


With Your Love

by brainstorm



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Smut, parent!Liam, teacher!niall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-12 11:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 57,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4477964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brainstorm/pseuds/brainstorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam's life was nothing like a normal twenty-two year old guy. Raising a kid on his own was probably the hardest thing he's ever had to face but he wouldn't change his little boy for the world.<br/>He never thought he'd find someone that was good for both him and his son, but that changed fast the day he met his son's new teacher.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone, I am back! I swear the title of this song has nothing to do with the boys' new song, I started writing this months ago and it was already named back then.  
> I'm already in the process of writing the last chapters of this so it shouldn't take me forever to upload. I had this idea for the longest time and wanted to write it even though it didn't came out exactly the way I had imagined it up in my head but I'm happy with it. I hope you enjoy this story! (: x

“Are you all ready to go, Ty?” Liam asked as he saw his little boy walking towards him with his small bag in hand.

“Mhm,” the boy muttered quietly, standing right in front of his dad, who crouched to help him put his (maybe too big) coat on.

“What’s the matter, bean?” he asked as he zipped up the coat, “aren’t you excited about going back to school?” he finished. It was the first day of school after their winter break, it had been very nice to get to spend all day with his son but he needed to go back to school now. The little boy just shook his head at his question, “why not?” he asked as he pushed himself to a standing position again.

“Don’t want. Want to stay with da,” the boy spoke softly, wrapping his little arms around his leg. Liam sighed.

“Ty, we’ve been through this already, you need to go to school. Remember how fun it is there?”

“No fun. Da fun.” Liam laughed at his son words, he wished he was fun. He wished his life was fun.

“We can have fun once you get back from school later, okay?”

“Noooo,” the boy whined.

“Tyler, this is not up for discussion,” Liam used his parenting voice, “you’re going to school.”

“But, da-“

“No buts. Come on, we need to get going.”

The boy whined again as he let go of his dad leg and they both got out of their house. It was a small house in a decent and not too noisy part of London. Liam took his son’s hand and crossed the street to where his car was parked. His car wasn’t one of those latest model cars either, he’s had it for years already but with a house to maintain and a three year old kid, it wasn’t easy at all. He worked in the public relations area of a company, because with a lot of effort he had managed to get a degree on that. It had been hell, studying so much while rising up what was back then a baby, but his mother helped him a lot and he would be eternally grateful. He remembered having to double up his classes to get his degree sooner, he needed a job as soon as possible back in the day and he wouldn’t get a serious one that’d pay enough if he didn’t. He seriously thought he wouldn’t be able to do it, he always thought he wasn’t too bright but somehow he managed. Luckily for him, he landed a job only weeks after graduating from college in a company that paid fairly well.

“Come on,” Liam helped Tyler to the backseat and put the seatbelt around his small shoulder before making his way to the driver seat. “Ready?” he asked, turning the ignition on but he got no response from the backseat. He sighed, here we go again with the no wanting to go to school tantrum.

 

“No!” Tyler whimpered, clinging to Liam’s leg.

“Tyler, please. You don’t want to make a scene, don’t you?”

“No school!” he yelled as Liam tried to get him to let go of his leg.

“Tyler,” Liam spoke with a serious tone now, “if you don’t let go of me right now, you won’t be able to play with your toys for a week.”

“But, da!” the boy cried but let go of Liam to look up at him with big brown eyes.

“There we g-“ Liam started talking but was cut by someone who had just exited the room Tyler was supposed to go into.

“Hello, there,” a blonde guy with an irish accent that came out of Tyler’s classroom spoke and smiled softly at Tyler, who just looked at him scared and hid himself behind Liam’s leg. Clinging to Liam’s leg _again_. The boy offered Liam a soft smile before he crouched in front of Liam, looking at the boy.

“My name’s Niall. What’s your name?” he asked with that soft voice people use to talk to little kids.

Liam didn’t say anything but looked down at Tyler, who didn’t move from his spot behind Liam but moved his head just a little to peak at this guy apparently called Niall.

“Tyler,” he whispered almost inaudible.

“Tyler? Nice to meet you Tyler,” the guy smile and stretched his hand out to Liam’s son.

The boy didn’t move but the blonde was apparently not taking a no for an answer and he hadn’t moved his hand away.

“Aren’t you gonna say hi, Tyler? That’s not nice,” Liam decided to jump in. Tyler looked up at him for a short second before he looked back at Niall, slowly letting go of his leg to touch Niall’s hand who smiled bigger once he shook the kid’s hand.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Tyler,” the blonde told him as he moved his hand away, “are you coming in now? I’m sure your friends missed you during the break.”

“Nick?” Tyler asked softly.

“Yes, Nick is inside the room,” he nodded.

“Claire too?”

“And Claire too, yes.”

Tyler stood there for a second before he moved away from behind Liam’s leg and nodded slightly, “’kay.”

“Good,” Niall beamed, “want to say bye bye to your dad?” he asked as he stood up. The kid nodded and turned to Liam who crouched to give his son a hug.

“Bye bye, da,” he wrapped his tiny arms around his father’s neck.

“Bye, Ty, I’ll see you at home later, yeah?”

“Mhm,” Tyler nodded slightly as he stepped away from Liam and turned to Niall, who stretched his hand for Tyler to take, which the little boy did. “Do you have a minute?” he asked Liam as he began to walk away with Tyler.

“Um,” Liam glanced at his watch, “alright.”

“Great. I’ll just go inside with him and be here, it’ll just be a minute,” the blonde explained and Liam nodded, watching his son walk inside the room with… his new teacher? Who is this guy?

He saw Tyler let go of Niall’s hand as soon as he had apparently spotted his little friends, yelling some non sense as he took a seat in front of them in their tiny colored tables. Niall crouched in front of them and said something to them which had the kids nodding and the blonde smiling before he stood up again and walked out of the room.

“Sorry about that,” Niall apologized as he stretched his hand out for Liam to shake.

“That’s fine,” he shook the hand he was offered firmly and gave a slight, even though confused, smile.

“I hope I’m not making you late, just wanted this to be an introduction, I talked to all the parents when they came by,” Niall explained and Liam gave a single nod, “like I said before, my name’s Niall, I’ll be replacing Mrs. Macy this semester, you must remember she’s pregnant so she’s on medical leave.”

“Oh. Yes, I remember she was pregnant. Well, it’s really nice to meet you, I hope you get along with the kids.” Yeah, what a stupid thing to say, right? He’s a teacher. “You look a bit young to be in charge of so many kids though.”

“I’m a student teacher, but I’m on my last year already, I promise I’ll take good care of them,” Niall laughed a bit nervous.

“’s okay,” Liam nodded, “I trust the school judgment, if they think you’re prepared for it then I don’t see why not,” he shrugged, “Ty’s a bit… he’s a bit shy, so it’ll probably take him some time to warm up to you, it was chaos when he first started school.”

“I’ll remember that, but we’ll make it work,” the blonde smiled at Liam. “I think that’s all, just wanted to make some kind of formal introduction.”

“Alright. Nice to meet you,” Liam shook Niall’s hand again before turning away to leave but stopped himself, turning around again, “oh, one more thing,” he said and Niall, who had turned to walk into the room again, turned to look at Liam and nodded, “my friend Harry is in charge of picking Tyler up every day, just wanted to let you know in case no one informed you.”

“Okay. Tyler knows him, right?” Niall asked and Liam nodded. “Alright then, thanks for letting me know.”

“No problem, thank you.” Liam thanked him before resuming his walk, he needed to make it to work.

*

“… and then we drew.” Liam could hear his son talking enthusiastically from the kitchen.

“Really?” Harry’s deep voice came and sounded interested, “what did you draw?”

“Da and I,” Tyler’s voice explained and Liam smiled, dropping his bag on the sofa and walking into the kitchen.

“Will you show me that drawing?” he asked and his son turned to him.

“Da!” Tyler smiled and ran to him and Liam crouched down to hug him.

“How was your day, bean? Did you have fun?”

“Yes. Lots,” Tyler nodded.

“See? I told you school could be fun.”

“Yes, Mr. Niall fun.”

“Is he?”

“He is, apparently,” Harry interrupted, “he’s been talking about him nonstop since I picked him up,” he shook his head with a slight smile.

“I’m glad you like your new teacher, bean,” Liam kissed his son’s head before standing up.

“How about you? How was your day?” Harry asked him as he helped Tyler up his chair again.

“Same old, same old,” Liam shrugged, “how about yours and Ty? Did he behave?”

“Of course he did, didn’t you, Tyler?” Harry turned to look down at the kid.

“Yes,” he nodded, “look, da,” Tyler raised his hand, holding a drawing.

“Is this the one you did in school today?” Liam asked as he took the drawing in his hand. It was a very basic drawing and there were too many colors but Tyler was only three years old so he’d say it was pretty good for a kid his age. “This is very good, Ty, should we put it in the fridge next to the other one?”

“Yes!” Tyler exclaimed excited, Liam didn’t understand why he loved seeing his drawings in there so much. It was probably a pride thing even though he was too young to know what that was yet.

“Are you staying over for dinner?” Liam asked Harry as he turned to make himself some coffee.

“No, mate, I’m having dinner with Zayn and Louis tonight, promised them we’d have dinner tonight.”

Liam sighed trying to hide the disappointment he felt, he wished he could still do that. He wished he could be able to go have dinner with friends, drink a beer, watch a football match and just have a laugh and relax, but life had other plans for him. He loved Tyler, he loved him with all his heart, with everything he had because he was his son, he made him, but sometimes he wished he was a normal twenty two year old. He tried not to think about it too much though, always pushing that thought to the back of his mind because what was the point anyway?

“Hey,” Harry stood up and approached him, resting his hip against the counter, obviously having sensed Liam’s demeanor, “I can call the guys and tell them I’ll stay here. Or I’ll tell them you’re coming and you’ll bring Tyler so they keep it quiet.”

“No, don’t worry,” Liam shook his head with a slight smile, “it’s school night and Tyler should be going to bed early, Louis and Zayn would probably distract them and he’ll end up not getting enough sleep for tomorrow.”

“Uncles?” Tyler perched up from his chair on the table.

“No, no uncles tonight, you have school tomorrow.”

“Miss uncles,” Tyler said quietly and looked down.

Liam sighed and walked closer to his son, running a hand through his hair, “I know, you’ll see them soon, yeah? I’ll tell them to come see you on the weekend.”

“Promise?”

“I promise, bean.”

“Okay,” Tyler nodded, picking back his pencil and going back to whatever he was doodling.

“You’re doing a great job, Li, you know that, right?” Harry whispered to him as Liam walked back to the counter to grab his coffee.

“I try,” he let out a sigh.

*

Luckily for Liam the rest of the week passed quickly and nicely, Tyler seemed to be really happy in school and he loved his new teacher so much, he even asked Liam once if they could invite him over to play with him. Of course Liam had to say no to that, he couldn’t ask his teacher to come over to his house to play, poor guy must already have enough of kids at work.

Now it was Saturday, and as he had promised Tyler, he had Louis and Zayn for dinner along with Harry. They had all known each other for years already and had always been there to offer a hand to Liam with Tyler whenever he needed, bless his friends. They loved Tyler almost as much as he did himself, and Tyler was used to seeing them around so much he called them ‘uncles’ already.

It was almost dinner time when the bell rang and Tyler ran out of his room and to the front door to open it. “Uncles!” he yelled happily as he saw the three men standing at the door.

“You didn’t ask who it was,” Liam reproached as he came from the kitchen, “what if it wasn’t them?” Tyler just looked at him with big eyes and didn’t say anything.

“Oh, give him a break, Liam,” Louis shook his head as he crouched down to Tyler’s level, “hello, you,” he pocked his tummy, making the kid giggle.

“Hi, uncle Lou.”

“Come on, keep moving,” Zayn commented from behind Louis, kicking his butt lightly.

“I’m moving, jeez,” Louis rolled his eyes, ruffling Tyler’s hair slightly.

“Uncle Zayn!” Tyler cheered and Zayn smiled, bending down to hug the kid. “Are we drawing superheroes today?”

“No one’s drawing today, Tyler,” Liam shook his head, he swore if it wasn’t because Tyler looked so much like him, he could be Zayn’s son with all his love for drawing and superheroes.

“But, daaaaa,” Tyler whimpered and pouted.

“Don’t mind him, we’re gonna draw some sick superheroes today, okay?” Zayn smiled at him.

“Yes!” he clapped his hands happily and Zayn made his way inside Liam’s house.

“Hi, Ty,” Harry smiled, just ruffling Tyler’s hair even more on his way in. There was no need for such greetings between them, after all, they saw each other every day.

Liam closed the door after his friends were all inside and put a hand on his son’s shoulder to guide him in. “Pizza should be here any moment, just turn on the TV or something.”

The rest of the boys made themselves comfortable in Liam’s living room, changing the channels on the TV until they decided for some match it was on even though no one was paying attention to it, they were all chatting with Tyler.

“And is there any girl you like?” Louis asked the boy with a smirk on his face as he pocked his side.

“Noooo,” Tyler shook his head quickly.

Harry gasped, “you’re lying! You told me the other day!” he laughed.

“Uncle Harry!” Tyler exclaimed embarrassed, his cheeks turning pink.

Now it was Louis’ time to gasp, “you told Harry but you don’t want to tell me, I’m offended, Tyler.”

“But- but, uncle Lou!” Tyler seemed desperate at the thought of his uncle getting mad at him. He crawled and sat on his lap and wrapped his short arms around him, “no mad at me.”

“I’m not mad,” Louis laughed. “You gonna tell me about her?”

Tyler’s cheeks got pink again and he crossed his arms over his chest and pouted, “no want to.”

“Okay, you don’t have to tell me then,” Louis put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, “it’s fine.”

“Her name’s Mia,” Tyler spoke and Louis smiled. Reverse psychology, always worked with kids.

“And have you talked to her already?” Louis asked interested as they heard the bell rang. He saw Liam walking to the door from the corner of his eye.

Tyler nodded, “she’s got blonde hair. And blue eyes.”

“Blue eyes? Like mine?” Louis asked, opening his eyes wide and making a funny face, making Tyler giggle.

“No,” Tyler shook his head, “like Mr. Niall.”

“Ooooh, Mr. Niall,” Louis nodded, “is that your teacher?”

“Yes! Mr. Niall cool.”

“I’d like to meet him then.”

“Da said Mr. Niall no come over.”

“Well, teachers are meant to stay in school. You’ll see him in school.”

“But Mr. Niall!”

“You’ll see him in school, Ty, we can’t have him coming over,” Harry interrupted just as Liam came over with the boxes of pizza.

“Oh God, he’s talking about his teacher again, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” Harry chuckled as he opened one of the boxes.

“I don’t know what it is about him, Tyler loves him. Don’t you, Tyler?”

“Yes,” Tyler nodded in agreement.

“But not as much as you love me, right?”

“No,” Tyler looked at him with big eyes and shook his head, “love da.”

“You’re such a sap, Liam,” Harry laughed and shook his head.

“Hey, you have to give me that. You’ll know when you have kids.”

After that they pretty much stuck to eating pizza and chatting, of course about topics that were appropriate to be heard by a three year old kid. They let Tyler change the channel to a cartoons one once they were done with the pizza and he happily sat in Liam’s lap to watch, babbling along to what the characters were saying and singing along with the songs.

“Tired, da,” Tyler mumbled with a cute yawn as he rubbed his eye.

“I think it’s time for you to go to bed, bean,” Liam commented as he stood up, managing to get Tyler sitting on his hip.

“No!” Tyler exclaimed all of a sudden.

“What’s wrong?” Liam asked curious of what might have been going on through his son head.

“Uncle Zayn and me no draw superheroes today.”

“Aw, buddy, I’ll come back in the week and we’ll draw some superheroes, yeah? I promise.”

“Promise, uncle Zayn?”

“Of course I do!” Zayn laughed, “I think you should go to bed now.”

“Okay,” Tyler nodded slightly and yawned again. “Da, down.”

Liam sighed as his son’s request, “what now?” he asked as he did as he was told and watched Tyler walk over to Zayn.

“Bye uncle Zayn,” he said as he stretched his arms for him to hug, making Zayn laugh and lean over to hug him back with a soft ‘night night, Ty’. He then moved to Louis, “night, uncle Lou,” and got the same treatment, another hug but also a ruffle of his hair. “Bye, uncle Harry,” the boy hugged him back and then Tyler walked to his dad, taking his hand and waving goodbye one last time before they started walking to the hallway.

“Come on, bean, you still need to brush your teeth.”

“Nooooo,” Tyler complained and Liam heard his friends laughing from the living room.

“No, young man, you’re not skipping it. You brush your teeth, then we go to bed.”

 

Liam sighed as he closed the door to Tyler’s room, he had finally fallen asleep after having Liam tell him a story and doing too many unnecessary questions for being a bed time story. He walked straight into the kitchen and got four beers out of the fridge, handing one of each to his friends.

“Beer? Huh, and I thought you weren’t fun anymore, Liam,” Louis chuckled as he shook his head.

“I need one from time to time, leave me alone,” Liam dropped himself in the only single sofa that was unoccupied.

“So,” Harry started casually and Liam knew that couldn’t mean anything good, “now that’s us and we’re alone, we wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Oh God. I’m not gonna like this, right?” Liam groaned low.

“Well… it depends,” Harry shrugged and Liam raised an eyebrow at him.

“On what?”

“If you want to do it, of course.”

“And if you don’t then we’ll make you do it anyway, so,” Louis added before drinking from his bottle of beer.

“And what are we talking about here, to be exact?” Liam asked, not sure if he wanted to know.

“We need to put you out there again, mate,” Harry explained, “it’d be good for you.”

“Put me out there?” Liam raised his eyebrow yet again, already sensing what they were talking about but still asked, “what does that mean?”

“Ugh, you know!” Louis exclaimed, “put you out there! As in, in the dating business.”

“Nope. Not happening, Lou,” Liam shook his head as he sipped his beer.

“Why not?” Louis asked in that high pitched voice of his he used when he was annoyed.

“I knew I’d need the beer,” Liam laughed before drinking and then spoke, “because I can’t and you know damn well why. I don’t have the time or the energy or even _the money_ to go through the going on dates and all that shit. Seriously, not happening.”

“But why not, you’re not even giving yourself a chance!” his friend exclaimed again, “don’t you want to find someone to help you raise Tyler? I thought you wanted that.”

“I _wanted_ that, true. Years ago, but not now. I’m happy with my life now. And I’m not gonna find the love of my life while drunk in some club.”

“You have to give him that one, mate,” Harry commented as he nodded.

“Maybe we weren’t talking about getting drunk and partying,” Louis mumbled under his breath as he crossed his arms over his chest with an annoyed look on his face.

“I don’t even think you should go for that,” Zayn threw in after being quiet for the entire conversation, “I mean, you’re right, just go out once in a while, have a good shag and move on with your life,” he shrugged as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

“Liam doesn’t do that stuff, you know that,” Louis shook his head, “a hopeless romantic he is.”

“It’s not- put yourself on my shoes,” Liam started, “you have a kid to raise, a school to pay, a house to maintain, a job you don’t want to lose. There’s too much stuff that I’d risk.”

“Holy hell, I just told you to go meet someone not to leave it all behind to go- I don’t know, but you just went so deep there.”

“It’s not going too deep, it’s my reality and it’s true. If I’m gonna meet someone, then it’ll be under normal circumstances and someone that Tyler actually likes, ‘cause that is really important for me, okay?”

“If you want Tyler’s approval you’re gonna have to go for his teacher Niall,” Harry laughed, “or well, wait until next semester and see if he has a new hot teacher that’s a woman, you know, given that you’re straight,” he shrugged.

“I’m not-“

“I’m not straight,” Louis mocked his accent, “yeah, yeah, whatever you say, mate.”

“I’m-“

“You’re not kidding, we know. You told us several times before,” Louis repeated as if he heard the words a million times before.

“’Cause you won’t fucking believe me!” Liam threw his arms in the air.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking just women though, Liam, don’t know why you push it so bad, I mean, you can always be gay friendly,” Harry commented with a shrug.

“I’m not _gay_ ,” Liam emphasized the word.

“Bi. Well, same thing, you never liked a bloke and that’s fine, why do you want to be it so bad?”

“What do you know?”

“Is there something you haven’t told us?” Louis raised his eyebrow at him.

“Well, no, but-“

“Straight then.”

“Ugh, you’re impossible,” Liam dropped himself backwards on the sofa in defeat.

“Just stating the truth,” his friend shrugged, “just give it a thought. We think it’d be good for you, partying and getting drunk it’s not an obligation for it, but I think you should come with us sometime, get Ty a babysitter or something. Or your mum. We’ll have some fun.”

Liam sighed, trying to remember when was the last time he had actually went clubbing with his friends to have fun. It had probably been too long ago already. Maybe he could take that advice though… get his mum to stay with Tyler for a night so he could go out. He knows, he knows he shouldn’t because he’s a dad and he has a kid to take care of but he _needs_ this, needs to feel like he’s still young and that his life’s not hopeless. It doesn’t have to mean that he’ll throw his life away and become reckless, no. Just one night. “I’ll think about it.”

“That’s great-“ Louis exclaimed but they were cut when they heard the door of Tyler’s room being opened, soft steps approaching and Liam sighed, putting his beer on the table as he straightened his posture.

“What’s up, bean? Why aren’t you in bed?” Liam asked his kid as he opened his arms for him to approach him.

“Can’t,” Tyler spoke softly as he shook his head and climbed into his dad’s lap.

“But you were asleep minutes ago when I left after telling you a story,” Liam wrapped his arms around him and Tyler leaned into his ear, covering the side of his mouth with his hand so no one could hear him as he spoke. Liam’s face turned into one of realization when he heard what Tyler whispered into his ear and nodded when he dropped his hand and pulled away. “So he’s back, huh?” he asked Tyler and single nod in response, “guess we’re gonna have to catch it then.” He commented and then turned to his friends who were looking at him a bit confused. “I’m sorry guys but I’m gonna have to call this an early night, I’ve got a monster to catch.”

“Da!” Tyler exclaimed and started moving around, trying to slip from Liam’s arms.

The rest of the guys tried to suppress their chuckles as they look at Liam with a smile and knowing faces. It wasn’t the first time Tyler had come to Liam to say there was a monster in his room.

“Okay then,” Zayn was the first to stand up, and walked up to Tyler to crouch in front of him, “your dad here will take care of the monster, yeah?” he ruffled the kid’s hair and got a nod as an answer.

Harry and Louis stood up and said their goodbyes too, and both Liam and Tyler walked them to the door when they left.

“Alright then, ready to be brave and face the monster?” Liam looked down at Tyler who was standing next to him, holding his hand. Tyler shook his head furiously and dropped Liam’s hand to hug his leg. Liam shook his head with a sigh before getting Tyler to let go of his leg, “come on, time to fight monsters, bean.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a week isn't too long for an update, right? (:

Luckily for Liam, Tyler got into the school thing pretty quick and most mornings he was even excited to go to school. As weeks went by he started to talk more about what he did in school and even made some more friends. Liam was so proud of his little bean, he knew he was shy (despite being only three), he had been a bit like that when he was younger too. Not that he remembered, but that’s what his mother had told him.

“Mr. Niall said-“ Tyler started as they walked to Liam’s car but was cut by a sneeze. Again. Liam had noticed it, the past few days Tyler had been sneezing and coughing a bit, and Liam had thought about taking him to the doctor because it was the first time in a long time Tyler would come up with a cold (assuming it was a cold) but he decided not to do it yet just because seasons were changing so it could only be a bit of an allergy. He’ll wait a bit more before he took him there.

“Are you feeling okay, Ty?” he asked, just in case, he knew Tyler wasn’t one to express much so he had to ask. He received a shrug in response and that was actually something Tyler did a lot, so he didn’t really think it was a big deal.

He drove to the kindergarten and entered the building, holding Tyler’s hand like he did everyday but this time, he didn’t let go of his hand and ran into the classroom as he usually did whenever he saw his teacher and were near. This time he just kept walking next to Liam and didn’t let go until Niall came to greet them.

“Morning,” the blonde’s smile was as big as it usually was in the morning.

“Good morning,” Liam greeted, “not going to say hello?” he turned to Tyler.

“Hel-“ Tyler intended on speaking but was once again stopped when he sneezed.

“I think he’s having some kind of allergy because of the weather, I’m not really sure yet,” Liam explained to Niall.

“Most probably, yes,” he nodded, “I’ll keep an eye on him but it’s probably nothing to worry about,” he smiled maybe a bit too sweet to Liam. He did that often, too often, most of the time Liam liked to think it was because of Tyler, because he loved taking care of children and Tyler was actually so cute, how could someone not love him? But Liam noticed that somehow those smiles were always directed at him and he didn’t know how to feel about it. Niall was okay though, more than okay maybe but he wouldn’t admit that to himself, he wouldn’t even allow himself to pay that much attention, after all he was his son’s teacher and that’d be wrong. But something inside him always clicked whenever he saw his blue eyes or his radiant smile.

“Thanks,” Liam smiled slightly with a nod. “Time to go, Ty,” he spoke to his son and Tyler nodded, slowly letting go of his hand and walking towards Niall, “see you later, bud,” he ran a hand through his son’s hair. “See you tomorrow,” he nodded at Niall.

“See you,” the blonde smiled again before turning to walk into the too colorful classroom.

 

Liam was lucky it was such a quiet day at work, he didn’t have to worry about making everything quick or hurrying with anything. He loved those days. Also, he had some nice coworkers so he couldn’t really complain.

It was around noon when his phone started buzzing on his pocket with a number he didn’t know displaying on the screen. He frowned before he decided to pick up. “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Liam Payne?” a voice that sounded familiar asked from the other side of the line.

“Yes, this is Liam speaking, who is this?”

“Oh, good. Liam, this is Niall, Tyler’s teacher,” he spoke. Liam was confused, did something happen to Tyler and that’s why he was calling? But if something was wrong then why was he so calm?

“Oh, um- hi. Did something happen?” the only question that needed to be answered right now.

“Well, I’m here in the school’s nursery with Tyler, he’s got a temperature, I think you might want to pick him up. Or call someone to do it, but we always have to notify the parents first, so.”

What?! But Tyler was fine in the morning when he dropped him to school, how did he manage to get a fever in such a short period of time? He thought about calling Harry to pick him up but decided against it, he should be the one taking care of Tyler.

“No, uh- I’ll pick him up. I need to talk to my boss first to let him know but I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Alright then, I’ll stay here with him because he won’t let go,” Niall chuckled.

“Da coming?” Liam could hear his son speaking from afar.

“Yes, your dad is coming very soon, Tyler, don’t worry,” he heard Niall explaining, “alright then, we’ll meet you in here soon, see you!”

And then the line was dead. Liam sighed, pocketing his phone again and gathering his stuff before he walked towards his boss’ office. Luckily for him, his boss was really cool about it, older than Liam but with kids not too much older than his, so he understood his problem, also knew that Liam was a single dad, so he had probably pitied him a little and let him go.

There was no traffic on the streets so that was good and allowed him to make it fairly quick to the school, entering the building and letting the security man know that he had received a call saying his son was ill so he would let him in. The school had a pretty good security system, which was one of the things Liam had noticed when he first started looking for a place to take Tyler to, at least he knew his money was going somewhere.

The nursery was on the second floor, as the security man had explained so he made his way upstairs and had to wander around only for a minute before he was able to find the place.

He knocked on the door before he opened it to find Niall sitting on a chair and Tyler leaning towards him. “Hello,” he greeted so they’d notice he had arrived, given that Niall was too preoccupied holding Tyler.

“Oh, hey,” Niall smiled and turned to Tyler who had his eyes closed, “Tyler, your dad is here.”

“Daddy?” he opened his eyes to look at him through his half lidded eyes, “Daddy,” he stretched his arms towards him so Liam would pick him up.

“Hi there, bean,” Liam did indeed pick him up, holding him on his hip, Tyler was just so small, maybe even for a three year old kid, “we’re going home now, yeah? How are you feeling?”

“Sleepy, da. And cold,” he rubbed one of his eyes with his hand, “home.”

“Yeah, we’re going home now,” he placed a kiss on his forehead. “Where’s the nurse?” he turned to Niall.

“Had to go for a sec to see a girl in one of the other rooms, he slipped or something. Did you need anything?”

“No- no, it’s fine. I should probably go already, need to put him into bed. I thought he was fine this morning, guess I was wrong.”

“Well, parenting can be hard. Not that I’ll know but… yeah,” Niall shrugged one shoulder.

“It is,” Liam sighed, “thanks for calling,” he nodded before stepping away to leave.

“Wait, uh-“

“Yes?”

“This might be a bit- unprofessional but… I’d like to know how he’s doing? I mean, he won’t be coming back for a couple of days probably and uh… is there any way I can check on him?” A couple of days?! He’ll have to call work and ask for a couple of days to stay home, surely his boss will understand. Now what should he tell Niall?

“I, uh- I don’t know, maybe I can send you an email? Or text you?” he knew that he was trying to avoid giving Niall his number just because he was Tyler’s teacher, but he couldn’t let go of the fact that deep down he kind of liked Niall, he was nice, his son liked him a lot and he was kind of hot. Yeah, but he couldn’t let that happen, right?

“A text would be good,” Niall nodded, “should I give you my number or you’ll give me yours or…?”

“Oh, um… I’ll give you mine so you can text me or I’ll probably forget, sorry,” Liam offered him an apologetic smile.

“It’s alright, you probably have lots to do,” Niall smiled warmly and took out his phone, handing it to Liam, who had to kind of maneuver to type down his number right into Niall’s phone so he wouldn’t drop Tyler who was already fast asleep, cheeks pink and his tiny arms around Liam’s neck.

“There you go,” he handed his phone back to the blonde.

“Alright. I promise I won’t bother, just want to know if he’s okay, Tyler’s such a good kid, his friends will miss him.”

“I’m just glad he’s made some friends, thought he was too shy for it.”

“He’s good, all kids his age are pretty shy are first, it’s their first experience being away from their parents so don’t worry too much about it, I’d say he’s been doing very good so far.”

“That’s great to hear-“

“Daaaa,” Tyler whined suddenly, moving around in his arms.

“Sh, sh, we’re going now, Ty, we’re going,” he ran his hand up and down his back before turning back to the blonde, “guess we’re going now, thanks for everything,” he smiled, getting one in return from Niall.

“It’s nothing. Hope he gets better soon,” Niall gave a nod as he watched Liam turned to walk away.

 

Liam had taken Tyler home right after picking him from the school and changed his into his pajamas to get him into bed. He called a doctor to come over so he could check on him, he didn’t want to give him anything when he wasn’t sure what he had, especially if he had a fever, it would’ve been different if it was just a cold.

He felt bad for having to wake up Tyler, he knew he was tired and wasn’t feeling good but it was necessary for doctor to check on him. So after he was done checking his lungs with his stethoscope, he moved to check his throat and ears as well as measuring his temperature. So the diagnose was tonsillitis. Liam was kind of scared but didn’t want to show it, wasn’t Tyler a bit too young to have that? Of course the doctor had assured him that Tyler would be fine and that there was nothing to worry as long as he took his antibiotics and stayed in bed to rest, his body needed that.

Liam had called Harry minutes after the doctor was gone, asking him if he would be kind enough to go buy the antibiotics he needed for Tyler. Of course Harry said yes and he was at Liam’s in no time to pick up the prescription before he was off to the pharmacy.

He had put Tyler to bed again, covering him with his blankets, because he had to add another one given that he was cold because of the fever. He took advantage of the fact that Tyler was now sleeping and that Harry wouldn’t be back for some minutes to call his job and let them know he wouldn’t be able to go to work until Tyler was healthy again. Luckily for him, his boss had, once again, been very understanding, telling Liam to take his time to make sure he was completely healthy. Liam still made sure to tell him he’d check his email and try to do as much as he could from home.

Harry was back moments later with the antibiotics the doctor prescribed and Liam made sure to keep them in his room, Tyler didn’t have to take them until later that day. Harry stayed for a couple of hours in which they did nothing other than talking, and his friend had offered to help Liam taking care of Tyler whenever he needed, something Liam was very grateful for.

It was almost dinner time, Harry was gone already and he was making some soup for Tyler, knowing that he’ll get complains about it because he knew his son hated it just like any other child but it needed to be done, when his phone rang in his pocket. It was probably one of his friends asking about Tyler because Harry must have told them. So he let it be while he finished cooking, serving the soup on a bowl and taking it to Tyler’s room.

Tyler had been awake, and whined when he saw the bowl with soup, “No. No soup, da,” he shook his head.

“Yes, you’re having this because it’s good for you and it’ll help you be healthy again.”

“No like soup!” Tyler whined again with a pout and Liam knew he was so close to throw a tantrum. It was probably only because he was sick, because Tyler was never like that.

“I know, but you have to drink it anyway. And you have to take this, it’ll help you feel better,” Liam showed him a small cup with the antibiotic that smelled strongly of strawberry and had a pink color, “you can take this, right? You will feel a lot better if you do, bean,” he spoke now with a soft voice. Tyler stared at him for a second before he nodded slowly and leaned closer for Liam to help him drink his medication before he was handed a plastic glass of water that he drank slowly. “Very good, Ty. Now soup.”

“Noooooo,” Tyler crossed his arms over his chest.

“Tyler,” Liam spoke with a firm tone, “if you don’t drink your soup, I’m gonna have to take Mr. Bear away,” he threatened and Tyler’s eyes went wide and grabbed the teddy bear that was next to him on the bed and held it close.

“No! Not Mr. Bear!” he exclaimed, his eyes shiny with tears.

“Then you have to drink the soup. Will you do it for Mr. Bear?”

Tyler blinked and didn’t speak for a second before he nodded again. Good.

It was a bit of a struggle at first, Tyler would keep making faces and whining but Liam didn’t give up, he was settled in making Tyler drink the whole thing. And he did.

“See? It wasn’t that awful, was it?”

“Yes,” Tyler said much too serious, making Liam chuckle.

“How do you feel? Are you tired?”

“Yes. Want lay down with da,” Tyler said with a short nod.

“Alright, let me take this to the kitchen and then I’ll tell you a story, okay?”

“Okay,” the kid nodded again and got more comfortable again in his bed while Liam stood up to leave the room with the bowl in one hand and the, now, empty glass of water in the other. He left them by the sink and decided he’ll have something to eat once Tyler was asleep already so he made his way back to his room.

“Alright,” Liam squeezed himself next to his son in his tiny bed, throwing the blanket to cover just part of his leg. “Are we all ready? Mr. Bear is ready too?” he asked and Tyler nodded, hugging his teddy bear closer. “Okay,” Liam cleared his throat, “a long, long time ago, in a kingdom far away, lived a princess named Effy…”

 

Liam sighed as he closed the door to Tyler’s room, making his way back to the kitchen to search something to eat. It had taken Tyler longer than usual to fall asleep, it was probably because he had slept the whole afternoon. Liam had touched his forehead before leaving and he didn’t seem to have that much of a fever, the antibiotics seemed to be doing his work.

He settled for some salad he already had in his fridge, not really what he wanted to eat but even though he liked cooking, he didn’t feel like doing it at the moment. He was halfway through his salad when he remembered he had gotten a text earlier, so now was a good time to check who it was. Surprisingly, it wasn’t from any of his friends though, but from an unknown number.

_‘hello! just wanted to know how tyler was doing :) this is niall btw’_

Oh. Huh. Yeah, he completely forgot about that with everything he had been doing. He saved the number before typing a response.

_‘tonsillitis. he’d be fine though thanks for asking :)’_

He sent the message even before he could even reread it and kept on eating his salad. He got a reply not longer than five minutes later.

_‘poor tyler hope he gets better soon. let me know if there’s anything i can do for ya!’_

Right. It was good to know he could count on Tyler’s teacher if he needed help. What could he ask him was a whole different story though. It was still a nice gesture.

_‘alright. thanks niall! see you soon’_

And that was it, there were no more texts after that one. He washed the dishes really quick before he decided to call it a day, so he made sure all the lights were off and the doors and windows were closed properly before going to his room and lying down to watch a movie until he fell asleep.

*

The next couple of days nothing really happened, Tyler was most of the time in bed, partly because he was tired and partly because Liam wouldn’t let him do much. Maybe he’ll let him have lunch or dinner with him in the kitchen, and he let him have a bath, but other than that, he’d rather him staying in bed, that way he’ll get better faster. 

What did kind of become a thing was texting Niall. Well, actually Niall would text him first but he always replied so that didn’t really make a difference, right? At first it was just to ask how Tyler was doing or to let him know if he needed something for school whenever he was coming back but after that they’ll end up talking about silly stuff, like football, for example, because Niall would add a comment on a text and then Liam would talk about it and that’s how it started. But he didn’t know much about him though, it not like they have had some deep conversation during texts. But Liam liked the fact that Niall was so good to Tyler and worried about him. Now he knew why Tyler liked him, he was very nice and good, and kids always had the ability to see the good on people. And let’s be real, Liam had a bit of a weakness for anyone that was good to his son.

 

Now Tyler was healthy again, or at least healthy enough to go back to school the next day, so he had all his clothes ready for the next day, and an extra coat for him because he still needed to be careful. He had wrote Niall a text earlier,

_‘tyler will be back at school tomorrow :)’_

“Alright, bean, bed time!” Liam called for Tyler as he walked towards his room.

He helped Tyler into his pajamas and under the covers and watched him snuggle with his teddy bear as always and then sat down on the edge of the bed before starting his story, “once upon a time there was a little girl called Millie, and a little boy called Billy…”

By the time Liam was done with his story, Tyler had been long asleep. He smiled slightly at his son sleeping figure before leaning over to kiss his the top of his head, “sweet dreams, bean” he whispered before he silently made his way out of the room.

He made sure he had everything ready for work the next day as he was going back to the office. He ironed his shirt, washed the dishes and got ready for bed. Once he was under his covers, he decided to check his phone one last time before turning it off. He found two texts from Niall.

_‘that’s great! can’t wait to see you!’_ read the first one, then he opened the second. _‘and tyler of course :)’_

Liam had to suppress a smile when he read the texts. He didn’t know why, but somehow, he couldn’t wait to see Niall either.

*

“Tyler!” Niall exclaimed with open arms as he saw Liam and Tyler approaching. He crouched when they were a few meters away and Tyler, who was walking and holding Liam’s hand, let go of him to run towards the blonde.

“Mr. Niall!” he said happily as he hugged him.

“We have missed you, Tyler,” Niall told him as he let go of him and Liam stood beside them. “Your friends even made some drawings for you.”

“Really?” Tyler asked with big brown eyes.

“Yes, I’ll show them to you later, but let’s get inside now, yes?” Tyler nodded at his question and he stood up, signaling for Liam to wait for a minute and he nodded.

Liam watched Tyler from outside the room and how three kids greeted when they saw him, walking over to hug him and say hello to him. He couldn’t help but smile. He was so worried when Tyler first started that he’d be too shy to make friends but seems like he was doing just fine. Maybe it was just like Niall had said, kids were all a bit shy when they first had to leave their parents. And talking about Niall, he came out trotting out of the room with a slight smile on his lips.

“Hey,” Niall approached and gave him a sidehug that kind of surprised Liam. He was going to go for a hand shake, which was maybe a bit too formal, and yes, they might have been texting randomly but he wasn’t sure how it’d go when they saw each other, and let alone in Niall’s work place. “So how are you doing?” he asked when he pulled away a second later.

“Uh- good. Happy that Tyler’s fine again.”

“I bet you are,” Niall laughed lightly, “but his mother still helped, right?”

Liam went stiff at that question, his face turning into a somewhat rigid expression too. It came so out of the blue that it took him by surprise. How should he explain….?

But Niall seemed to catch on what had happened cause his eyes got suddenly bigger and seemed embarrassed, “oh my God, did I- shit- I mean, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know-“

“No,” Liam shook his head and tried to relax his shoulders, “it’s fine, you didn’t know. Uh- she’s been out of the picture for a long time now, so, uh… yeah,” he explained awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck.

“I’m so sorry, really, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine…” Liam offered him as much as a smile as he could muster right then.

“Alright, uhm- I should get back inside now. I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked trying to hide the embarrassment and discomfort in his face.

“Yeah, sure,” he smiled slightly, “have a good day.”

Well that was surely a lot more awkward than he thought it’d be.

 

It had been a long day and Liam was glad he was back at home. And an hour later because he had to stay doing some work but he was finally home. “Hello,” he greeted as he entered the living room, hoping to see Tyler but he was faced with only Harry. He frowned, “where’s Ty?”

“He’s in his room playing,” Harry explained, “hello to you too.”

“Shit- sorry. It was a long day,” he sighed as he sat next to his friend.

“Tyler’s teacher asked me to say sorry to you, about what he said this morning.”

“Oh,” Liam blinked, “it’s fine,” he shrugged. “Did he tell you?”

“Yeah… must have been awkward, right?”

“A bit, yeah… but it’s fine, I mean, he didn’t know, he just guesses ‘cause that’s how it’s supposed to be.”

“It was probably awkward though,” Harry nodded and just in queue, Tyler entered the living room.

“Harry, loo- da!” he interrupted himself when he saw Liam.

“Hello, Ty. How are you?”

“Da no come say hi to me,” he pouted in front of Liam and he laughed.

“Dad was having a talk with Harry, I’m so sorry. How was your day?”

“Won candy!” Tyler exclaimed happily.

“You did? How?” Liam asked interested as he lifted him up to sit them next to him on the sofa.

“We play game and I win,” Tyler smiled very big at his very useful explanation and Liam had to laugh yet again. Up in his head he thought that Niall still felt bad for what happened in the morning so he did that to compensate.

“That’s very good, bean, I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, da,” Tyler smiled and hugged Liam.

“Guess I’ll be leaving now,” Harry commented then as he stood up, “got some stuff for class to finish.”

“I really don’t know how you do it, going to class and taking care of Tyler, you’re like superman.”

“Superman!” Tyler exclaimed, “we watch superman?”

“No, not today, Ty,” Liam explained and his son pouted, making Harry chuckle.

“If someone’s superman here, then that’s you, Liam. Ask your son. Isn’t your dad super, Tyler?”

“Yes. Da super!” he explained, nodding vigorously and making Liam smile.

“Thank you, bean. You’re super too.”

 

That night before going to bed, Liam sent Niall a quick text to let him know everything was fine. It wasn’t necessary at all and after he had sent it he questioned himself why did he do it.

_‘you didn’t have to give tyler sweets. we’re cool tho, don’t worry’_

Liam fell asleep before he had the time to wait for a response.

 

The next morning he overslept, actually, he woke up because something was poking his cheek. “Huh?” he blinked his eyes open slowly.

“Da, school!” Tyler exclaimed next to him and Liam sat up a bit too quickly, making his head dizzy.

“Sh-“ he stopped himself before he could curse, “come on, we need to get ready.”

He made Tyler some quick breakfast, not even thinking about having something himself except for half a cup of coffee, as he put on his clothes real quick. Changing Tyler into his clothes took him a bit more of time, but they managed to get it done in record time.

It was already almost half an hour later than they usually left but he wasn’t going to skip the day because of that. But he wasn’t going to drive any faster either and risk their safety.

Liam entered the school almost running, having Tyler attached at his hips with his tiny legs. It was faster that way, he still had to get to work. He knocked on the door of Tyler’s classroom and since half of the door was made of glass, he could see Niall turning around and his expression changing into a smile when he saw them. He came to open the door.

“I though he wasn’t coming today,” he smiled softly.

“We overslept, I’m sorry,” Liam explained as he put Tyler down.

“That’s fine,” Niall gave a comprehensive nod, “come on Tyler, we’ve already started.”

“Alright. Gotta go now, sorry he’s late,” Liam smiled slightly before he turned around.

“Hey, Liam!” Niall called from the door and Liam turned around.

“We’re good, right? You never answered my text last night.” Right. He had texted him the night before and since he overslept, he never got to check his phone today, he had barely remembered to grab him on his way out.

“Oh, um- yeah, yeah we are. Sorry I didn’t answer, haven’t even seen it yet,” he chuckled. “Gotta go now, bye!” and then he was gone, not even giving Niall time to answer anything.

He had been told off for being late but he knew his boss liked him so there were no repercussions, and also because he wasn’t late often so this had just been a slip. The day went smooth, Harry had texted him as soon as he picked Tyler up from school as he did every day, Louis had texted him too about going out sometime soon but Liam didn’t even had the time to think about that. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to go.

When he got home, he found Tyler cuddling Mr. Bear on the sofa while singing some song from his favorite cartoon. He had smiled at him when he saw him, not stopping his singing (or more like, babbling) as Harry laughed and shook his head.

“So you’ve got a parents meeting on Friday,” Harry commented and Liam frowned confused.

“Already? So soon?”

“It’s been more than a month since school started.”

“Oh,” Liam blinked, “guess I didn’t even notice.”

“That’s fine, mate. Niall told me to let you know ‘cause you were in a hurry this morning?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I overslept. Tyler woke me up actually so we were late and I was late for work.”

“Oh. That sucks, I’m sorry.”

“What time is that meeting then?”

“Oh… can’t remember. You should probably ask him tomorrow. Or,” Harry emphasized that word, “you can wait for his text, said he’ll text you later,” he raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, um- yeah… I have his number…” Liam didn’t know why but he felt kind of embarrassed. But there was no reason to, it wasn’t like they were texting each other all day or sending inappropriate texts.

“That much I figured,” Harry snorted, “so what’s going on? He pretty much made the same embarrassed face you just did, I mean, I doubt you’re fucking so-“

“Bad word, uncle Harry!” Tyler slapped his arm with his hand.

“Oops! Sorry, Ty,” he smiled at the little kid and ruffled his hair before turning back to Liam, “so why do you have his number?” he wiggled his eyebrows.

“He wanted to check on Tyler when he was sick before,” Liam shrugged as if it was nothing, “I think it was sweet of him.”

“Does he do that with all the parents?”

“How would I know that?” Liam frowned.

“I just think it’s weird, like- any other parent would just think it’s awkward, and I’m sure he wouldn’t ask any other parent but he still asked you, which makes a lot of sense now that I think about it like, he always asks how you’re doing when I go pick up Tyler even though he sees you every morning and-“

“He does that?” Liam asked half confused, half surprised.

“Yeah, everyday. Haven’t I told you?” Liam shook his head, “well, he does. I think he kind of fancies you.”

Liam snorted at that comment because seriously, _what?_ “How would that even be possible? We barely know each other!”

“Attraction comes first I guess,” Harry shrugged, “just my opinion.”

“Wouldn’t that be wrong? I mean- isn’t that a bit unprofessional of him?”

“Can’t help your feelings, Liam. Or your urges,” he laughed.

“Fuck you,” Liam laughed.

“Bad word, da!”

“Sorry. Sorry, bean.”

“I’ll go now. I think you should think about what I just told you, might be true.”

“I just don’t think that’s even possible but whatever, Harry.”

 

That night, he got a text from Niall, just like Harry had told him, letting him know about the meeting on Friday.

_‘parent-teacher meeting on friday after school, did harry tell you?’_

Niall could’ve literally just wait until the next morning when he saw Liam to let him know about it or ask him if his friend had told him, but apparently he liked texting Liam a bit too much. Which was wrong. It was wrong and Liam knew it but for some strange reason he just couldn’t stop his fingers from typing when he replied. Just the thought of Niall somehow made him a bit happier. Maybe what Harry had told him was right, he had noticed it in the way Niall smiled at him or shook his hand two seconds too long but Liam had felt it right from the first day but it just couldn’t be, not as long as he was Tyler’s teacher. But how could he stop it when it’s been so long since he ever felt like this. Also, what is _this_ that he’s feeling? Shouldn’t be a thing but it is. He kind of felt… wanted, and he liked that, it’s been too long since he felt that way.

_‘yeah he did. gotta work tho, can harry go?’_

This was totally true, he was still at work when Tyler was out of school, which was actually the reason why Harry picked him up every day. Maybe he should make space for that meeting, maybe his boss would understand. His phone buzzed again not even two minutes later.

_‘we can arrange any other time you’re free, just let me know’_

Liam decided not to reply to that text, what should he do? Text him his schedule so they could find a time they were both free _and_ the school was open? He could wait until the next morning to talk about it, unlike Niall.

*

In the end they just agreed that Liam would be the last parent to have the meeting with Niall, just so he didn’t have to leave work earlier than needed, Niall had assured him that it was fine and that he’ll stay with Tyler until it was time so he didn’t have to worry.

It was starting to rain slightly when Liam made it to school, making his way to the floor when Tyler’s classroom was. He saw the last parents (or more like, just mums) leaving with their children as he knocked on the door and let himself in.

“You didn’t make it here that late,” Niall smiled at him as he finished rearranging some papers on his desk when he saw him entering.

“It wasn’t that much of a busy day, I guess,” Liam shrugged one shoulder and Tyler came running towards him.

“Da!” he hugged his dad’s leg and smiled up at him big. “Play?”

“Hello, Ty,” he smiled and crouched in front of his son to kiss his cheek, “we can’t play now, dad has to talk to Mr. Niall.”

“Play later?” Tyler asked with big eyes and a pout.

“Sure. We’ll play later,” he nodded and smiled, standing up again and Tyler turned around to go back to his small table to do whatever he was doing. Probably just drawing.

Liam approached Niall’s desk in the corner of the room and Niall signaled him to take a seat.

“So there’s not much about Tyler that I can say,” Niall started, now sitting on his chair, “he’s pretty quiet but most kids are when they first start kindergarten. He doesn’t have trouble with other kids or with other teachers. He’s got a bit of a problem taking orders though, but nothing that can’t be solved.”

Liam frowned at that, confused. “What do you mean taking orders?”

“Well, we do a lot of different activities during the time the kids are here, and Tyler’s favorite one happens to be drawing time. So whenever I tell them it’s time to change into another activity, sometimes I read them short stories, we play a game, or we work with the alphabet and Tyler won’t want to stop drawing. Believe me, it’s not the only kid with this problem. It’s nothing to worry about it yet, he’s still so little, he’s got time to learn.”

“What can I do to help about it?” Because, like, Liam didn’t want Tyler to be one of the kids that threw tantrums at school, or that would have problems to pay attention or concentrate once he was older just because he couldn’t apply enough discipline.

“You can always try to ask him to do stuff when he’s spent some time doing something already, watch his reaction and you’ll see what I mean. This only happens when it’s something art related, he does fine during everything else, he seems… almost passionate about drawing,” Niall laughed slightly.

“He didn’t get it from me, that’s for sure,” Liam shook his head a bit surprised, “I never noticed that about him, but I’ll do what you say. I don’t want him to have trouble in the future.”

“Don’t worry about it, he just started, this is his first year here, it takes some time to get used to it, he’s doing amazing so far.”

“Okay,” Liam nodded. “Anything else?”

“Not about Tyler, no,” Niall shook his head, opening the drawer of his desk and taking a sheet of paper with a list of things and handed it to Liam. “This list contains everything we’ll use to work during the year, each kid has to bring his own stuff, you know, it’s about learning to share even though the school provides this in case they forget them or something happens. But I’ll let you know when it’s due so you have time to buy it.”

“Alright,” Liam nodded once again, reading the list over and noticing nothing was hard to get or too expensive. He slid the paper between others in his suitcase.

“That’d be all then,” Niall smiled, “you’re free to go.”

“Okay. Thank you so much, I’m sorry if I made you stay late.”

“Of course not, it’s fine.”

They both stood up and Liam walked over to Tyler, “come on, bean, it’s time to go home.”

“We play?”

“We can play at home, yes” Liam nodded and Tyler cheered as he stood up and took his dad’s hand in his to start walking.

Niall had his backpack on already and his coat in his hand as he waited for both Liam and Tyler to walk out of the classroom so he could turn the lights off and close the door.

“Say goodbye to Mr. Niall, Tyler,” Liam stopped once they were out of the room and Niall turned all the lights off.

“We wait Mr. Niall,” Tyler gave a very convinced nod and Liam looked at him confused.

“You want to wait for him?”

“Yes. We walk together.”

“Oh,” Liam blinked, “okay.”

Niall was done a minute later and saw them standing a few meters apart so he decided to ask, “what are you still doing here?” he said as he approached them.

“Tyler wanted to wait for you to walk out together,” Liam explained him.

“Aw, how sweet of you Tyler. Let’s walk out, alright? I’m sure you want to get home already.”

Tyler nodded and grabbed Niall’s hand too as they started to walk out. Liam felt somehow weird, holding his son’s hand while he also held his teacher hand, it was a different picture of what he was used to.

“Ugh, it’s raining?” Niall huffed as they reached the front door of the school.

“Yeah, it started raining when I got here some time ago.”

“I didn’t even notice,” he sighed, “well, guess I’ll get wet on the way,” he commented as he put his backpack down to put on his coat.

“Do you live far from here?”

“Not really, it’s a twenty minutes bus ride,” the blonde answered as he zipped his coat and lifted his backpack from the floor.

“C’mon, I’ll drive you,” Liam pointed to his car with a nod of his head, “I mean- if you want.”

Niall moved his eyes to look at Liam and blinked. “Don’t worry about it, you don’t have to,” he made a ‘don’t worry’ gesture with his hand.

“Mr. Niall come!” Tyler exclaimed suddenly and Niall began to protest.

“No, I’m serious you don’t hav-“

“The little man has already spoken,” Liam shook his head at him. “Come on, it’s nothing, I promise,” Liam told him once again and turned around to walk out with Tyler holding his hand before Niall could protest.

Liam helped Tyler inside the car and put the belt on him, they were a bit wet already from the rain but they’d be fine, the important thing was Tyler not getting a cold from it. He saw Niall standing still on the front door of the school, doubt on his face. “Come on!” he half yelled at him and gestured with his arm to come over as he opened the door to the driver seat of the car.

Niall half ran to the car and Liam opened the door for him from the inside and Tyler cheered from the backseat as Niall sat in the passenger seat and closed the door.

“You sure this is okay?”

“Of course it is,” Liam told him once again as he put the key in the ignition and started the car.

Niall told him his address and gave Liam some directions about how to get there because he lived on the other side of the city from where he and Tyler lived and he didn’t want to get lost. Then they spent a moment in silence until Liam talked.

“You can turn on the radio if you want.” Niall nodded and turned it on, some radio for kids started playing immediately.

“Yes!” Tyler exclaimed and clapped his hands together.

“Forgot to say to change the station quick,” Liam chuckled but didn’t take his eyes off the road, “you can change it if you want.”

“No!” Tyler yelled at him from the back, “no change.”

“Okay, I won’t,” Niall turned to smile at him and Liam sighed and shook his head slightly.

“Tyler, be good to Mr. Niall and let him change the station,” he looked at his son through the review mirror.

“But, da-“

“It’s okay, Liam, don’t worry. His car, his rules,” Niall laughed shortly.

“Well, technically not his car but,” Liam laughed too.

They listened to Tyler singing along to some song on the radio while Niall gave him some indications on which street to turn. There was a moment of silence before Niall spoke again.

“You seriously didn’t have to drive me home,” he said softly, not to disturb Tyler’s singing.

“It’s fine,” Liam smiled, glancing quickly to his side, “take it as a thank you for staying longer today for that meeting.”

“I didn’t stay that long, the meetings with the other parents took a while so it was fine. Seriously, thank you.”

“That’s fine-“

“Da, Mr. Niall come play?”

“No, Tyler, Mr. Niall can’t come play, he has a very busy day,” he glanced shortly again at Niall.

“Weekend?”

“We’re going to visit your grandma on the weekend, remember?”

“Yes! Granny!” Tyler exclaimed and Liam felt relieved that he wouldn’t have to talk about the topic anymore.

“It’s on the next block,” Niall suddenly said, pointing to a white building on the other block.

He parked a few meters away from Niall’s building and suddenly felt weird about what to say or do. But Niall didn’t, which was good, he always seemed so sure.

“Alright, thanks for driving me, mate,” Niall unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to the backseat, “I’ll see you on Monday, alright Tyler?”

“Okay,” the little kid nodded, “see you, Mr. Niall!” he waved happily.

“See you on Monday too, Liam,” Niall smiled and put a hand on Liam’s shoulder, squeezing a bit.

“Yeah… see you,” Liam nodded and managed a smile.

Niall was out of the car and running towards the entrance of his building in order not to get wet from the rain. He waited until he was inside, not before he saw the blonde turning around to wave at him before going in. Liam was fucked.


	3. Chapter 3

“Granny!” Tyler exclaimed very excited as soon as his grandma opened the door to let them in.

“Oh, hello Tyler!” she smiled big at the child and crouched in front of him to hug him. “I’ve missed you a lot, how have you been?”

“Good,” Tyler nodded and went inside the house and Liam chuckled.

“Hey, mum,” he smiled at her and hugged her, “it’s been a while.”

“I know, love, but you finally decided to come visit and I’m glad, haven’t seen Tyler in a while, didn’t want him to forget me and your dad.”

“He wouldn’t forget you, there are pictures of you at home.”

“That’s so nice, Liam,” she smiled and closed the door behind him once they were inside. “Now, where did this kid go?”

“Tyler!” they heard Liam’s father exclaimed from somewhere in the house.

“Grandpa!” Tyler yelled and seconds after the sound of Tyler’s laugh invaded the house.

“He seems happy,” Liam’s mother spoke.

“He was so excited he was coming to see you, he made you like a hundred drawings and he made me bring them,” Liam shook his head with a laugh.

“Give them to me, I’m gonna put them together with the ones you did as a kid.”

“You still have those?”

“Of course I do! A parent never gets rid of those.”

“The door of my fridge is full with his drawings.”

“See what I-“

“Granny!” Tyler voice came from the corridor of the house and suddenly they saw Liam’s father carrying Tyler in his arms. “Hungry!”

“Tyler, what do we say when we ask for something?” Liam sent him a glare.

“Please, granny?”

“That’s better.”

“Such a polite kid,” Liam’s mother laughed as he passed by Tyler and ruffled his hair, “lunch will be done in a few.”

“But hungry, granny,” Tyler pouted and made big eyes to her.

“Come on, help me get our bags upstairs to our room and lunch will surely be done when we finish, okay?” Liam stated and his father put him down. “Hey, dad,” he gave his dad a hug too and then took Tyler’s hand in his. “Let’s get this done, yeah? Then we eat.”

“Okay,” Tyler nodded and they were off to his car to look for their bags.

 

“How about we watch some telly while we wait for your grandfather to come back with cookies?”

“Yes, cookies!” Tyler exclaimed, “we watch cartoons?”

“Yes, Ty, we can watch cartoons.”

Liam was definitely sure this cartoon that was Tyler’s favorite was on at every damn time, he was seriously tired of the songs, he even knew them by heart! But he wouldn’t risk a tantrum from his child just to change the channel, if it’ll keep Tyler happy and entertained, he’ll have to deal with it.

“So how is school going for you, hm?” Liam’s mother asked and Tyler turned to her with a smile. Here we go.

“Great. Mr. Niall is very great and funny,” the kid explained and Liam took out his phone.

“Is Mr. Niall your new teacher?”

“Yes. Mr. Niall let me draw superheroes. And he sing songs and play games. He fun.”

“That sounds really good, Tyler, your teacher seems very nice.”

“Yes, love Mr. Niall,” Tyler nodded and then spoke softer, “but da say Mr. Niall not come play” he pouted.

Liam chuckled at that and his mother hummed, “well, teachers are meant to stay in school darling, you’ll see him on Monday.”

“But miss Mr. Niall,” Tyler let his head rest on his grandma’s arm.

“I’m sure he misses you too, honey,” his grandma ran her fingers through his hair.

Liam had been filming all the conversation on a video and decided to stop it so it wouldn’t be too long. He’ll send it to Niall later. He shouldn’t, but he was going to do it anyway.

“And Mr. Niall and da friends,” Tyler told her grandma then.

“Oh, are they?” she asked curious.

“Yes. They talk and da drive Mr. Niall home.”

“Oh. Well, I’m happy they are friends, darling.”

And just on cue, Liam’s dad was back from the store.

“Cookies?” Tyler asked his grandpa with big, shinny eyes.

“Yes, I brought cookies for you.”

“You can’t eat them all, bean, or your tummy will hurt later, okay?”

“Okay,” he mumbled, not really paying attention to Liam but more like doing grabby hands at his grandpa to grab the cookies.

 

 _‘he’s a bit too fond of u i might be jealous’_ Liam sent Niall with the video he had filmed earlier.

It was after dinner already and his parents had gone to bed already but he decided to stay with Tyler a bit longer until the movie he was watching was over. He knew it was late for Tyler’s bedtime already but once in a while he could let him stay up a bit longer.

He didn’t get a response until the moment the movie was over and he was ready to get Tyler into bed, _‘aaaah what a lad! haha. can i send ya a video for him?’_

_‘sure. but quick cause i’m putting him to bed’_

He pocketed his phone and turned the TV off, making sure to turn all the lights off too before grabbing his son’s kid to go upstairs to get ready for bed. He felt his phone vibrate while they were brushing their teeth (much to Tyler’s complain) but he decided he’ll wait until they were back in the room and changed into their pajamas.

“Okay, all ready for bed?” Liam asked Tyler as the kid grabbed Mr. Bear.

“Yes, da,” he nodded and he got in the bed. They were sharing Liam’s old bed which Liam wasn’t too keen on doing because he liked Tyler sleeping on his own but only for one night wouldn’t hurt.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Liam exclaimed, stopping on his way to the bed to grab his phone from the pocket of his jeans. “Niall sent something.”

“Mr. Niall?” Tyler asked hopeful and looking at him excited. Maybe it had been a bad idea to wait until bed time to tell him about it. “What?”

“I don’t know, let’s see,” Liam chuckled, unblocking the screen of his phone as he sat on the bed, Tyler coming to sit in between his legs with his teddy in arms.

 _‘’ello there Tyler!’_ the video started and Tyler giggled, “Mr. Niall!”

“Sh, Ty, just watch!” Liam didn’t need Tyler waking up his parents.

 _‘I hope you’re having fun with your grandma and I hope you’re behaving. I miss you too and I’ll see you on Monday, buddy. Bye bye!’_ Niall waved at the camera and the video was done. It was very short but it got Tyler super happy and Liam was thankful for that. Not that he had been sad before but he was always happy to see his son smiling.

“Mr. Niall, da!” Tyler looked up at him excited, “we say night night to Mr. Niall? Please, da?”

“I don’t know, bean, I think he’s busy,” Liam explained. Because really, he could hear in the back of the video some noise, like there was people chatting and some music, and he seemed to be alone in wherever he filmed the video, like he had closed the door because the noise seemed to be far away.

“Please, da, please?” Tyler had turned to him with a pout and with those big, brown eyes to stare at him.

“Okay,” Liam sighed. Opening the camera app in his phone and turning to use the front camera just like Niall had done for the video. He rearranged Tyler in between his legs so they’d both be in the video and pressed the recording button. “Alright… go!”

Tyler stared at his own face on the screen of Liam’s phone and his eyes went wide before he turned around and grabbed Liam’s shirt into his tiny hands. “No!” he yelled into Liam’s chest.

“What do you mean no?” Liam laughed confused, “you wanted to send Mr. Niall a video to say good night! Come on now, say good night and then we’re going to sleep.”

“Okay,” Tyler’s voice was muffled against his shirt as he nodded before he turned to face the camera again. “Nite nite, Mr. Niall,” he waved, “see you Monday!”

Liam chuckled and waved with his other hand, “bye!” he said smiling down at his kid and he stopped the video. “Alright now, bean, sleepy time for you.”

“Yes. Tired, da,” Tyler yawned and Liam helped him under the covers. Tyler fell asleep quickly, by the time Liam had got comfortable under the covers himself and turned the light of the night stand off, his son was already fast asleep.

He sent Niall the video they had filmed with a happy smiley attached before turning his phone off to sleep.

 

 _‘thank ya_ ♥ _’_ Liam read Niall’s reply the next morning.

*  
Liam had a week free. A _whole_ wee free. As soon as he had gotten home on Sunday night after spending the weekend at his parents’, he had checked his emails just in case to find out some last minute remodeling needed to be done because of something that happened with the plumbing during the weekend so the building will be closed. Well… Liam could do with a mini holiday and quality time with Tyler during the week.

*

Monday morning had Liam feeling happy about not having to go to work and not having to wear that stupid shirt with those stupid pants. And he could also come home and keep sleeping for a while after getting Tyler to school.

“Mr. Niall!” Tyler yelled and let go of Liam’s hand to run towards his teacher who was on the opposite side of the hall.

“No running!” Liam yelled after him, shaking his head, knowing it was useless.

“Hello, Tyler,” a smiling Niall greeted and hugged Tyler. Liam wondered if he did that with all the kids. He hoped he was the only one who got texts from him and that he was the only one whose kid was treated like this. Liam he wanted to somehow feel special even though it wasn’t under the right circumstances but he couldn’t help it.

“No running the next time, okay Tyler?” Liam told Tyler once he had reached the door of the classroom where Niall and Tyler were.

“Sorry, da,” the kid gave a single nod.

“You go inside, Tyler, we’ll start in a few minutes, you can go say hi to the rest.”

“’kay. Bye, da,” Tyler hugged his dad’s leg and Liam rustled his hair slightly before Tyler went into his room.

“No uniform for work this morning?” Niall laughed shortly when he saw Liam wearing casual clothes instead of the boring he clothes he wore for work every day.

“Got a week off, they are doing some remodeling work in the building. Can’t complain,” Liam shrugged.

“Ah. That sounds nice…”

“Yeah, I can imagine it gets tiring to be around kids all the time. I know I get tired with only one,” Liam chuckled.

“Nah. These kids are all saints, they don’t cause any trouble,” Niall smiled.

There was a pause in which none of them said anything and Liam thought that was his cue to leave. Maybe he could go back home to take a nap before picking up Tyler again.

“So, um-“ Niall cleared his throat and his voice went softer, “those videos the other day… they were really cute. Thanks.”

“Yeah, uh- you’re welcome. I guess. I seriously think Tyler loves you more than me,” Liam chuckled nervously.

“Of course not, you’re his dad, he looks up to you.”

“I know, he just talks about you all the time, he thinks you’re the coolest teacher ever,” Liam laughed.

“Well, I hope so,” Niall laughed too. There was a small pause before he spoke again. “So, um… I’ve got, uh- I’ve got tickets to a footie game. On Friday. I was wondering… if you’d like to come with me. I mean- if you want. And if I’m not, uh- making stuff up in my head? Right? I mean, we-“

“Yeah… no. I mean, yes. We. You’re not making stuff up, I get what you mean,” Liam chuckled. He decided to interrupt Niall because he seemed nervous speaking about it but he was not better.

“So, would you like to…?” Niall asked again a bit hesitantly.

“Yeah… just let me think about it a bit first, yeah? Let me see who’ll stay with Tyler and all that. I’ll let you know.”

“Oh. Oh, yeah- Of course. Yeah, of course,” Niall smiled and Liam smiled back. “I should go inside now.”

“Right. You’ve got work to do,” Liam laughed. “I’ll see you later when I pick Tyler up.”

“Right. No work for you today. Lucky you,” Niall chuckled, “see you later, Liam.”

 

Liam went back to sleep when he got home again. It took him a bit of time to fall asleep again because Niall’s invitation kept coming back to his head and he didn’t know what to do. Of course he wanted to go, it’s been a while since he’s gone out to do something that didn’t had to do with his son and he wanted to go be a twenty two year old so badly. But on the other hand he felt bad about it even if it was only for a couple of hours. There was this feeling about it too, like, would this be a date or…? He wanted it to be, wanted to go out and talk to Niall and get to know him better because he was really interested in him.

There was only one problem. And he hated to say it like it, but it was Tyler. He really liked Niall and he’d love to give it a try, but not as he was still Tyler’s teacher. Kids his age still couldn’t comprehend a lot of things and if things went how he wanted and he really decided to give it a go with Niall, then he couldn’t have Niall seeing Tyler at school and then around at their home, it’d be too confusing for him and he didn’t want it for him. And there was still the fact that Tyler could talk about it at school and that could ruin things for Niall there. He couldn’t risk having Niall losing his job just because he couldn’t think this through and decided to just go ahead. So whatever this was, it’ll have to wait for at least a bit longer.

*

Liam got to the school to pick Tyler up a bit late to make sure the rest of the kids would be gone so he could have a word with Niall. He had made up his mind.

“Hi, da!” Tyler exclaimed and came running to him.

“Hey, bean,” he smiled at him. “I need to talk to Niall for a minute, can you wait for me?”

“I’ll let him have the crayons to draw,” Niall appeared from his left and explained, grabbing Tyler’s hand until a cupboard where they kept all their art supplies. He saw Niall explain something to his son and he nodded eagerly before starting to draw happily.

“So, what’s up?” Niall asked with a small smile and Liam leaned on the door’s frame.

“I wanted to, um- talk to you. About what you asked this morning?”

“Oh. Sure, okay. Have you thought about it?” the blonde asked, now seemingly nervous.

“Yeah, I…” he looked past Niall to watch his son and made sure he was immerse in his own little world, “look… I’d love to go with you on Friday ‘cause I think you’re so nice and cool and all but… as friends, okay? Like-“

“Oh,” Niall blinked and Liam saw his face fall even though he tried not to show it.

“No, just- listen, Niall. I’d love if we could go as in, like- a date, you know? But- but I don’t think it’s the right time. You said it before, _I_ said it, you’re not making stuff up, I like you but I gotta think of my son first, and I don’t think this is the right thing to do while you’re _still_ his teacher, you know?”

“Oh… yeah, I get it,” Niall nodded and looked down shortly before he looked up at Liam with a hint of hope in his eyes, “so… there’s still hope?”

“So much hope, Niall, so much hope from my side, mate,” Liam laughed because really, he so wanted this but he wasn’t a normal twenty two years old anymore.

Niall sighed in relief, “good,” he smiled. “But we can still go on Friday then? As friends.”

“’course. It’s been a while since I’ve done anything that’s not father-related,” he laughed.

“Good. We’re gonna have fun, I promise.”

Liam smiled, not knowing how to answer to this and he saw Tyler standing from his chair.

“Done drawing,” Tyler smiled and handed Liam a piece of paper with a new drawing he’ll probably be sticking in the door of the fridge later.

“Very good, Ty, you’re becoming a true artist, aren’t you?” he laughed and Tyler smiled bigger. “We should get going, go gather your things, bean.”

“’kay, da,” the kid nodded and went back to the table were his things were to grab his small bag and his jacket.

“That’s a cute nickname,” Niall chuckled.

“Oh?” Liam looked at him confused.

“Bean. It’s a cute nickname,” the blonde smiled.

“Oh. Been calling him like that since he was born. He won’t like to be called like that soon so I have to use it now that I still can,” he laughed.

“He’s still so young though, you have time.”

“Yeah… he was two months yesterday if you ask me so he’ll be like twelve before I even realize. They grow up fast.”

“You’re such a parent, oh my God,” Niall laughed.

“Well, I’d be doing a horrible job if I wasn’t, wouldn’t I?” he laughed too.

“True.”

“Ready, da!” Tyler approached them again with his bag on and everything ready.

“Okay. Say goodbye to Mr. Niall and we’ll go home.”

“Bye bye, Mr. Niall,” Tyler waved up at his teacher, “see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Tyler,” he smiled down at the kid, “see you tomorrow too, Liam.”

“Yeah. See you,” Liam smiled and put a hand on his shoulder for a second. “Let’s go, Ty, I’m in the mood for Toy Story, what do you think?” he started as they walked towards the stairs.

“Yes! We watch Toy Story, da. Hot chocolate too, please da?” Tyler asked excited and Niall couldn’t help but to smile at them from the door frame of the classroom.

*

The rest of the week passed both too slow but too fast at the same time. He got to spend some time with Tyler after school, watch movies and cook food together and go to the park in the afternoon and all. But at the same time Liam just wanted to skip the whole week and get straight into Friday to be with Niall. He knew nothing would happen, he had stated that very clearly, but that didn’t stop him from wanting it to happen sooner.

When it was finally Friday and he had picked up Tyler from school after having arranged with Niall what they’ll be doing later, he took Tyler home and they spent a good couple of hours watching cartoons until his friends were there. He had asked his friends to take care of Tyler for the time he was going to be out, and of course he didn’t tell them he was going to be with his son’s teacher, instead, he told them he was going to go to a football match with some friends from work. At first they thought it was weird but then they were happy that Liam decided to go out for a bit.

“Okay, so you behave while I’m gone and be good to your uncles, okay bean?”

“Yes, da,” Tyler nodded.

“I’ll be back soon before you go to bed, bean,” he kissed his son’s forehead before saying goodbye to his friends too. They all said goodbye and promised to call him if something happened.

 

“Sorry I’m a bit late,” Liam blurted out as soon as Niall got into the passenger seat of his car. “I was already on my way when I realized I had forgotten my phone and had to go back,” he said with an apologetic expression.

“It’s all fine, Liam,” Niall chuckled, “we’ll still be on time.”

“I know,” Liam smiled before starting the car again.

They drove for a bit until they got to the stadium where the football game was taking place. The ride had been cool, with music on the radio as a background as they talked about whatever came up. Mostly Tyler, because that was what they got in common, right?

The entrance to the stadium had been a bit agitated, there are always some crazy football fans that stir up some fights but they were calmed down quickly by security. They found their way around the place where they were supposed to sit, even though they knew they’d be standing and just yelling and cheering with the rest of the people.

“I’m not even a fan of this team,” Liam leaned close to Niall’s ear and whispered, not wanting anyone to hear him.

“That much I figured,” Niall chuckled, “but I’m happy you agreed to come with me,” he smiled and said softer.

“I’m glad you invited me,” Liam smiled back before they turned back to pay attention, the game was about to start.

It had been really fun, it’s been the longest time since Liam had the chance to go anywhere and have fun without it being fathering stuff related. Not that he didn’t love being a dad, but it was nice to be just Liam for a while too.  Also, getting to know someone who he liked and spend some time with him felt actually very nice.

They had some beer to drink during the half time of the game and Niall had almost spilled it over Liam’s shirt when he tripped trying to get back to their seats but hopefully he didn’t, but Liam still thought he was cute when he was embarrassed.

By the time they were out of the stadium, which was chaos by the way because there was just so many people, it took them forever to get to Liam’s car, they decided they wanted to go for something to eat, probably just pizza or something like that and a beer.

“I forgot how much adrenaline runs through you when you go see a match, it’s seriously have been ages since I saw one!” Liam laughed as he drove, not even sure where they were going.

“Yeah, gets you all hype and into some kind of fan mode, I’m seriously the worst to watch matches on the TV,” Niall chuckled.

“I doubt you’re worst than my friend Louis, he spends ninety nine percent of the time just yelling at the TV, I don’t even like watching football games with him so I’m sure you’re fine,” Liam laughed again and Niall smiled. “So, uh… where are we going exactly?”

“Oh. I don’t know,” Niall frowned for a second, “I thought you knew?”

“I thought _you_ knew,” Liam slowed down the car and parked, “we should think before I just keep driving in circles.”

“Um, well… what street is this anyway?” Niall leaned closer to Liam’s seat to see through the window the sign on the street that read the name of it. Liam turned his head so he was now facing Niall who was just inches away from his face.

“I, um- sorry-“ Niall said quickly and tried to move away but Liam put a hand on his shoulder to keep him in place. They stared at each other for a moment and Liam had just leaned that tiny bit forward when his phone started to go off and he sighed.

“This is some kind of shitty scene from a movie, I swear,” he chuckled sarcastically, making Niall laugh nervously. “It’s Harry,” he frowned, looking at the screen of his phone, “hello?” he answered and suddenly there was just crying and screaming and just a lot of frantic noises from the other side of the phone, “what? Harry, calm down, I can’t understand anything you’re saying!” he half yelled in desperation because he was almost sure that those cries he could hear were Tyler’s. He went silent for a moment and listened to Harry until he cut him off, “the hospital?! Oh my God, Harry! Where?! How are you going there?!” he was now yelling, completely having forgotten than Niall was still in the car and that they had been this close to kissing. What mattered now is that his baby could’ve hurt himself. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay? Tell him I’ll be there soon, Harry,” he told his friend before he hung up.

“What’s happened?” Niall asked him with a worried expression as he started the car again.

“Tyler fell while playing and they think he hurt his wrist or arm so they are taking him to the hospital,” he explained as he accelerated the car, “I’ll drop you off at yours and-“

“I’ll go with you,” Niall said firmly with a nod.

“Are you sure? I can drop you off real quick before I go and-“ Liam explained but Niall cut him off.

“It’s okay, you shouldn’t be wasting time when your son needs you. I’ll just wait in the car if you want.”

“No, I- it’s fine. Thanks, Niall,” he nodded and then his all attention was in trying not to crash or ran over something or someone as he drove through the streets of the city to get to the hospital Harry had indicated him they were going as fast as he could.

 

Liam entered the hospital almost running, heading towards the direction Harry had texted him they were waiting for the doctor to check on Tyler. He couldn’t believe they had to wait for a doctor, for God’s sake, Tyler was only three!

“Where is he? Is he okay?” Liam asked frantically as soon as he saw Louis sitting in a waiting room.

“He’s fine,” Louis stood up to talk to Liam but stopped when he saw someone else with him. “Um, who are you?” he asked Niall.

“Oh, um- I’m Niall. I’m a friend of Liam,” he explained as he scratched the back of his neck, Niall felt a bit out of place then.

“Louis, I need to know where Tyler is, is Harry with him?” Liam asked again, completely ignoring Niall’s introduction to his friend.

“Liam, calm down, mate, he’s fine. Harry is with him, yes. The doctor said he just twisted his wrist, they were going to do an x-ray of his arm just in case but she was sure it wasn’t broken.”

“Thank God,” Liam sighed in relief and just on cue, the door next to the chair Louis was sitting opened up to reveal Harry carrying Tyler.

“Da!” Tyler exclaimed, still half crying and with puffy eyes.

“Bean, oh my God!” he quickly approached them and took Tyler from Harry’s arms. “You’re fine, bean, you’re fine, daddy’s here,” he whispered as he rocked to the sides with his son in arms.

“Hurts, da,” Tyler sobbed into his dad’s shoulder and Liam shushed him, running his hand up and down his back comfortingly.

“They put a provisional cast until they do an an x-ray to know- Niall?” Harry asked confused when he saw Niall standing awkwardly a couple of meters away from them. Shit. Liam had completely forgotten about Niall again.

“Mr. Niall?” Tyler’s head shot up instantly at the mention of his teacher’s name, “Mr. Niall!” he exclaimed, squirming in Liam’s arms to put him down. Liam did, and Tyler walked in Niall’s direction, “hi Mr. Niall,” he waved with his healthy hand, “you hurt too?”

“Hello, kid,” Niall smiled and got down to Tyler’s level, “no, I’m here to see you. A bird told me you hurt yourself.”

“Hurts,” Tyler sniffled.

“I know, Tyler, but it’ll get better, yeah? And you can still draw with your other hand,” he explained and Tyler nodded.

“I thought he was right-handed?” Liam threw in confused.

“He uses both,” Niall stood up again and explained, “he’s too young to be right-handed or left-handed, some kids use both.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that,” Liam sounded embarrassed that he didn’t know that about his own kid.

“Don’t worry, is my job to notice those things anyway,” Niall smiled.

A doctor came out of the room where Tyler and harry had been moments ago, “everything’s ready to do the x-rays,” she explained, “who’s brining him?”

“I will. I’m his dad,” he explained, “come on, Tyler.”

“Mr. Niall come too?”

“No, bean, Mr. Niall can’t come now.”

“But, da-“ his eyes got watery, “Mr. Niall come,” he sniffled.

Liam turned to the doctor who shrugged, “let him come if it’ll make things easier.”

He nodded, then turned to Niall, “I think you’re coming with us,” he shrugged but offered an apologetic expression.

“It’s fine,” Niall smiled, “let’s go, Tyler” he put his hand out for Tyler and the kid took it, so they started to walk towards the direction the doctor has already started to make her way in. He could feel Liam’s friends’ eyes on him looking at him curiously but he decided to ignore it, there wasn’t much he could do about it anyway.

They followed the doctor along a corridor and up some stairs until they reached the x-rays room. She asked them to wait for a moment outside while she prepared everything.

“When stop hurting, da?” Tyler sniffled as he asked his dad.

“Soon, bean, very soon. They’ll make this x-ray now and then they’ll know what happened and help you so it won’t hurt anymore and we’ll go home, okay?”

“’kay,” Tyler mumbled. “I hungry,” he pouted and Liam laughed.

“We can buy some food on our way home. I’m hungry too.”

“ Mr. Niall come too,” Tyler nodded and stepped closer to his teacher even though he was still holding his hand.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, bean,” Liam smiled apologetically at his kid. He seriously didn’t want Niall around him while he was still his teacher. He did want Niall around, yes, and how much did he want him around, but he’ll have to wait until the semester was done and then they’ll see where all this went.

“You know what?” Niall interrupted, “you’re being so brave here, Tyler, you know? You’re not even crying! Behaving like such a big kid, aren’t you?” Niall changed the subject to save Liam from having to give Tyler some sort of explanation. He glanced quickly to him and Liam gave him a nod in appreciation. Then he looked down at Tyler that was looking at him very proud.

“Yes, Mr. Niall. No cry,” he shook his head.

“You’re doing very good-“ he started but he was interrupted by the door to the room being opened and the doctor coming out.

“You can come in,” she nodded.

“You go with your dad, okay? I’ll be right here waiting for you when you’re out.”

“’kay,” Tyler nodded again, letting go of Niall’s hand and instead grabbing his dad’s.

Niall watched them going into the room until the door was closed and he sighed. He totally understood why Liam was acting the way he did and he knew he was doing the right thing. It wouldn’t be fair to Tyler, knowing how attached the boy was with him. What if something went wrong between them? What if it didn’t work? He understood Liam didn’t want to give him hopes in case things wouldn’t go the way they wanted to. And he knew how kids were, hell yes he knew, he worked with them all the time, he knew kids had no bad intentions but Tyler could let it slip that he was seeing Liam and then things could go wrong. He was just a substitute teacher in Tyler’s school now, but he knew he had the chance to get a full job there and he didn’t want that chance to be taken away from him, he liked his job and he liked that school and his co-workers and he felt comfortable there. So Liam was right, they’d have to let time pass a bit more, which didn’t mean it’d be easy, because despite knowing what could go wrong, he couldn’t deny the attraction he felt towards the other man. Not only physically, but there was something about Liam that he couldn’t resist. Maybe it was his laugh, or his crinkly eyes, or the way he talked. Maybe it was the love he had for his child and how invested he was in making life for his son the best life he could give him. Or maybe it was the fact that he was just a good, nice guy. Simple. Niall liked the simple things in life.

His thoughts were interrupted by door opening once again and he saw Liam coming out with Tyler in arms. “She asked us to wait downstairs again, she’ll have it ready soon.”

“Alright,” Niall nodded and they started walking back to the waiting room they had meet Louis minutes ago. “How did it go, Tyler?”

“Hurt,” Tyler sobbed.

“Yeah, we had to take his shirt off and the cast and it hurt him. I’m so sorry, bean,” Liam kissed the top of his head.

“It’ll be over soon, Tyler, I’m sure,” Niall smiled and poked his tummy, making Tyler giggle while he sniffled.

 

After waiting for, luckily, not too long in the waiting room (where he had to deal with Liam’s friends awkwardly curious glances) the doctor was back and she asked Liam and Tyler into the doctor’s office again. He barely exchanged words with Louis and Harry, even though he knew Harry because he picked Tyler up from school every day, this was a very different situation and Harry was right about being confused about why he was there, after all, it seemed like Liam didn’t tell them he was going to see him that night. He couldn’t blame him anyway.

Moments later, Liam and Tyler were out in the waiting’s room again and he could hear Liam thanking the doctor. Niall saw Tyler walking towards Louis with a happy face that confused him.

“Look, uncle Lou! A cast!” he said excited and Louis laugh.

“That’s cool, huh? We can make some drawings on it later!”

“Watch what you draw in there, Louis,” Niall heard Harry hiss and Louis laughed.

“Yes. Uncle Zayn and me draw superheroes.”

“You’re gonna have Zayn draw superheroes in your cast? That’s gonna look cool as fu- very cool!” Louis corrected himself mid sentence and Harry snorted.

“Alright, Ty, time to go home,” Liam announced and the kid nodded then walked to Niall.

“Go, Mr. Niall,” the kid grabbed his hand and pulled, making him stand up and walk.

“I’ll drive Niall home and then I’ll go back home. Sorry about this, guys, but thank you so much for bringing him so quick,” he heard Liam talk to his friends a few steps ahead of him and Tyler.

“No worries,” Harry spoke, “Lou and I will go in my car then. We’ll see you soon,” Harry smiled at Liam and turned around. They were now out of the hospital.

Harry and Louis said goodbye to Tyler and hugged him, wishing him a good recovery, even though there wasn’t much he could do but they advised him to be careful not to hurt himself more.

“I’ll go in the back with Tyler,” Niall told Liam and he gave him a look he couldn’t read properly but then nodded, opening the door to the car to let them in. Niall secured the seatbelt around Tyler and himself as he watched Liam getting into the car. He had noticed that Tyler had gone from super excited about his car to super quiet and realized that he had actually fallen asleep hugging his arm two minutes into the car ride.

“He’s asleep,” Niall whispered and Liam looked through the review mirror and sighed.

“Mind if we go to mine? I’ll call you a taxi and all later. I’ll pay. Want to put him to bed, he must be exhausted.”

“This whole thing stressed him, yeah,” Niall spoke softly in order not to wake Tyler. “You don’t have to pay though, I’m fine.”

“At least stay for something to eat, I still owe you dinner.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Liam. Your son was hurt and you needed to rush to the hospital, everything’s fine. Promise.”

“Dinner, then,” Niall saw Liam smile through the review mirror and he shook his head.

“Okay.”

 

Niall had carried a completely asleep Tyler into Liam’s house after a not so long car ride. He had tried not to look around too much once he was inside, he felt kind of an intruder in Liam’s house because he wasn’t really supposed to be there, all this has been a bit unexpected. But when Liam had disappeared into Tyler’s room to put him to bed, telling him to feel at home, he just sat there in the sofa in the living room, looking around. He looked at the pictures hanging on the walls or by the shelves near the TV, all of what seemed to be his family but nothing about Tyler’s mother. He wasn’t going to ask about it either.

After some minutes, he heard a door open and then close, and just seconds later, Liam appeared in the living room.

“Alright, Tyler’s asleep now, that was pretty quick to be honest,” he laughed, “I’ll see what’s in here to eat.”

“We really don’t have to have dinner, Liam, I-“

“I insist,” Liam asked, already in his way to his kitchen.

There was noise coming from the kitchen, like the fridge being opened and then the cupboards. Liam emerged from the kitchen moments later.

“Well, I can make pasta or I can just put some pizza in the oven, whatever you like.”

“Just throw a pizza in the oven, I’m good.”

“Okay, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Niall heard again Liam rummaging through the kitchen before he was back. He sat next to him, leaving some space between them before speaking. “I’m sorry about Tyler sleeping on you. I’m sorry about this, kind of ruined our night, huh?”

“All fine, Liam. Your duty as a father comes first, I understand that. Actually, I’d be offended if it wasn’t like that,” Niall laughed shortly.

“Yeah… I thought he was hurt, I almost freaked out, sorry about that.”

“Again, Liam, everything’s fine, don’t stress about it.”

“I just wish it wouldn’t be so difficult, you know? Raising a kid is exhausting,” he sighed, and his body leaned backwards so his back was against the sofa.

“You’re doing a great job, Tyler’s a sweet kid,” Niall put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly.

“I do my best,” Liam turned his face towards him and smiled. “I’m dumping all my problems on you, I’m sorry,” he laughed embarrassed.

“All good,” Niall smiled sweetly.

There was a moment of silence before Liam spoke and stood up, “pizza should be ready. Come on,” he led Niall into his kitchen.

 

Niall stayed until midnight, they ate pizza and chatted, quietly so they won’t wake up Tyler even though they door to his room was closed. Then Liam put two beers out, one for each of them and they just sit on the couch and put some TV show as a background for their chat. He seriously didn’t want Niall to go, he felt so comfortable around him and it’s been a while since he felt like this around someone. He felt warm and happy and somehow wanted and that was something he had missed, something he craved and he didn’t even know it. Maybe he could find a way to keep seeing Niall without fucking up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please send me good vibes to write, I've only managed to write three pages in like a week and a half -.-


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> today's been hectic but I managed to update, hope you enjoy this chapter!

_‘up for a drink tonight? :)’_ Liam sent Niall a text after rereading it too many times and feeling anxious and nervous about what Niall could say.

 _‘sure. ya sure tho?’_ was Niall’s answer and yeah, he understood what Niall meant but yes, he was sure as hell.

 _‘yeah, tyler’s staying with my friends tonight_. _let’s meet somewhere, how ‘bout that?’_

This time he had to wait a bit longer for a response but he felt relieved when he saw Niall’s text. He said yes. Liam felt extremely happy that someone he liked, liked him back, he knew from experience it was hard when you got a kid. But Niall wasn’t running away, in fact, he feels like Tyler was keeping him even closer. He’s not going to use his child for that, of course not, but it feels nice to have someone around, after all, he’s only twenty-two, he _wants_ someone by his side.

 

“Alright, bean, behave for uncle Zayn, yeah?” Liam kissed Tyler’s cheek before putting him down from his hip.

“Yes, da,” Tyler nodded, “we watch movie tonight, uncle Zayn?”

“We can watch any movie you want, Ty,” Zayn ruffled his hair. “Off you go, Liam, c’mon,” he almost pushed Liam out the door. “Be safe, yeah?”

“I’m always saf-“

“You know what I mean,” Zayn winked an eye.

“I’m- what- no! That’s not what this is about!” Liam whispered yell, “this isn’t even a date, Zayn.”

“Alright, whatever. Have fun anyway,” Zayn smiled and waved, closing the door of his own house in his face. Liam rolled his eyes before deciding to take a taxi.

 

When Liam arrived to the little pub Niall had agreed to meet him not long after leaving his house, it wasn’t that far away and there was no traffic so the odds were on his favors that night, Niall was already waiting for him a couple of meters away from the entrance of the pub and smiled once he saw Liam getting out of the taxi.

“No car today?” he asked once Liam approached him.

“Nah, don’t like driving after drinking,” he shook his head.

“Planning on getting drunk tonight?” Niall raised an eyebrow at him.

“No, ‘course not, but just in case, you know?”

“I was just kidding,” Niall laughed and bumped shoulder with Liam as they walked into the pub, “good to know you’re being careful.”

“Yeah, well, wouldn’t like to leave Tyler without any parents.” There was a moment of awkward silence after that comment and Liam mentally scolded himself, “God, I’m so sorry, I’m such a mood killer.”

“No, I mean- you’re right, just didn’t expect you to say it like that,” Niall chuckled as they found a table to sit.

A girl signaled from a table close to theirs that she’ll be with them in a moment and Liam nodded at her.

“So…” Niall started, leaning on the table, “wasn’t expecting you to text me to go out if I’m honest.”

“Well, I… can I be like- dead honest?” Liam asked and Niall nodded at him to continue, “the other day when we had dinner- when we picked Ty from hospital and all that, I don’t know, I just had a really good time and felt really comfortable and I didn’t want to let go of that, you know? I like it when I’m around you.”

“That’s so nice of you, Liam,” Niall spoke softly and blushed, barely noticeable because there weren’t that many bright lights inside the pub, “I like it when you’re around too. But after what you said the first time, you know, I-“

“No, I know what I said,” Liam shook his head and leaned on the table too, “but I thought that maybe I could get to spend time with you and get to know you without Tyler having to know. I mean, I know it’s probably not the right thing to do. I should be at home staying with him and being a good parent but I just- I don’t want to keep myself from this. I like this, it feels good and it feels right and I don’t want to let go of it. I’ve been on my own for so long and I feel like maybe I deserve this, you know?”

“You do,” Niall smiled, “I would’ve just waited anyway, I mean- we’re only a couple of months away until the semester is done, I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.”

“I know but I didn’t want to wait though,” Liam smiled and looked down kind of embarrassed.

“I knew I was irresistible,” Niall joked and they both laughed, “but seriously, I don’t think you’re doing any harm right now, I’m happy this is not one sided and that you decided to go with it too. And I like the way you’re handling it, like- we’re talking about it, like actual adults and that’s not something I would’ve expected, not at our age, I mean, you could’ve just play this, let something happen if it was to and then just move on with your life.”

“Well, I must have grown up like ten years faster after I had Tyler,” Liam laughed, not very enchanted with the meaning behind the sentence, “but I’m not really that kind of guy.”

“Glad to know,” Niall smiled and a waitress approached their table.

“Night, guys,” she smiled, “there’s a free booth if you’d prefer to sit there instead of in a table,” she explained and Liam looked at Niall who just nodded his head with a shrug.

“Alright, we’ll take the booth then.”

After they moved to their new seats, they ordered some beers to start off and some food.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been out, I feel so free, it’s ridiculous,” Liam laughed.

“Well, I can only hope you have a good time tonight.”

“How can I not if I have some great company?” Liam winked, taking a sip of his beer that had just been placed in the table.

“Oh, sweet talking me now, are you?” Niall laughed.

“Mmm, maybe,” Liam smirked.

 

That night was more about getting to know each other. Liam learned a lot about Niall, how he had saved money during practically all his school years to move to London because he had always been determined about living there. He told him he had started bleaching his hair when he was thirteen because he had just been curious back then but now it’d feel weird to go back to his original color. He told him about his experience from when he first moved to London, being on his own, that it had been hard at first but him being a people person had helped him.

Liam had told him about moving to London when he finished school with his girlfriend and that a year later they had Tyler only when they were nineteen. He didn’t explain what happened to her, just that she had left years ago and that was it. Niall had been super curious to ask what happened but it wasn’t the right time to ask, he didn’t want to kill the vibe they had. Liam told him about having to take more classes that it was humanly possible to get his degree when he was in college so he’d be able to get a full time job to support him and Tyler. Niall felt kind of bad for him but in the end it all worked out for him.

When it was past eleven at night, even though it was Friday and neither of them had to work, Liam decided he should be going back home already.

“I’m sorry, I’d really like to stay, believe me, but I want to go back to Ty and-“

“I understand, Liam, don’t worry. I’m not mad or anything.”

“Okay,” Liam sighed, not happy to go but relieved that Niall understood him.

They paid for everything and left their waitress some tip on the table before leaving the pub.

“I had a really good time, I’d like to do it again if you’re up for it sometime.”

“Sign me up,” Niall smiled.

“Great,” Liam smiled too. “Should we share a taxi or…?”

“We’re going opposite ways so I don’t think that should be very clever,” Niall explained.

“Right. Just don’t want to let go yet,” he smiled shyly.

“We’ll see each other on Monday morning. And we can always text,” Niall smiled as they reached the corner of the street.

“Alright,” Liam gave a short nod and there was a pause in which none of them talked but stared at each other. “Can I…?” Liam asked, stepping closer and sure that Niall knew what he meant.

“Yeah…” the blonde said softly, his eyes moving to Liam’s lips.

Liam moved his hand to Niall’s face, his thumb resting on his cheek and he leaned in, maybe too slow even for him, but the moment his lips touched Niall’s he felt happy. He felt happy and warm and he felt like he had found something he had been searching for the longest time even without knowing. It was short but sweet and they both smiled at each other when they let go.

“Not the most romantic place to share a first kiss together but couldn’t stop myself.”

“I’m not complaining,” Niall smiled with a small shrug of his shoulders.

“Alright, I should be going,” Liam sighed. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

“See you on Monday,” Niall smiled, leaning forward and pecking Liam’s lips unexpectedly before he stopped a taxi that was just passing by.

“Text me when you get home,” Liam said and Niall nodded getting into the car and closing the door.

 

“So how was your date?” it was the first thing he heard his friend Zayn ask him as soon as he closed the door to his house behind him.

“It wasn’t a date,” Liam said without looking at him, just leaving his keys next to the door. It wasn’t a lie, it wasn’t supposed to be a date when he asked even though it pretty much felt like that and that the kiss at the end kind of confirmed but still… he didn’t want to tell his friends yet.

“’course it wasn’t,” Zayn rolled his eyes, “did you get to shag her?”

“I didn’t shag him and it wasn’t a date, okay?” Liam insisted as he walked into the kitchen, not even realizing about that the different pronouns being used.

“Wait, him?” Zayn sounded confused and Liam was sure he looked confused too but he wasn’t looking at him. He felt himself go a bit rigid for a second but decided to let go, he didn’t have to explain it to him. “Anyway, did you at least get to snog him?”

“No. And it wasn’t a date, stop this.”

“Come on, you can’t lie to me, Liam, and you know it,” Zayn laughed, “if you went to a date you can just tell me, I’m doing all of this because you _won’t_ tell me, you know I’m the one that bothers you the least about these things.”

Liam sighed, “it wasn’t _supposed_ to be a date but I guess it kind of ended up being one? And there was like, a bit of a kiss I guess, yeah. But I didn’t snog nor shagged anyone, okay?”

“I knew it,” Zayn’s smile was smug, “but I’m happy for you, mate, you need this. Even if it doesn’t work then it was some kind of a wind down, you know?”

“Don’t want it to be that,” Liam frowned, “I really want this to work,” he sighed, sitting in one of his chairs, “I’m just scared to bring him into Tyler’s life, what if it doesn’t work? Tyler’s a kid he gets attached so easily, I can’t do that to him.”

“But you can’t deprive yourself from this if it makes you happy.”

“Tyler’s always first.”

“I guess you should bring him over and see how they get along,” Zayn shrugged, “please, Liam, you deserve to be happy too.”

“I’m not unhappy.”

“But you could be happier and you know it. I’m serious, bring him over, see how Tyler reacts to him.”

Liam paused for a second, thinking if he should actually say what he was thinking. “He knows him already. He loves him.”

Zayn frowned at Liam’s words and Liam could see him trying to think about who could it be that he was talking about. “Well, it’s certainly not Harry or Louis or me…” Zayn started, “someone from work? You never took Tyler with you to work or any meeting, unless you brought them here?” Zayn was speaking more to himself now that he was to Liam. “Who else could it be th- no.” There. He didn’t say it but Liam knew he had figured it out. “Is it- are you- is it Tyler’s teacher?” Zayn asked now in a whisper but with a surprised edge to his voice. Liam didn’t answer though, just casted his eyes down. Zayn didn’t think it was a good idea then.

“I’m sorry…” Liam mumbled.

“Mate, what the hell are you sorry for?” Zayn suddenly laughed, “that’s the best thing you could’ve done! Very clever of you, Liam, very clever.”

“What?” Liam lifted his eyes to look at his friend with a confused expression.

“Think about it. Tyler likes him. He likes Tyler- what’s his name? Niall, right?” Liam nodded at his question, “Right. You like him, he likes you! It’s a win-win situation, nothing can go wrong!”

“So many things can go wrong, Zayn, I-“

“No. You’re just a fucking pessimist. Allow yourself to have this, Liam,” Zayn now took a seat in front of Liam, “you deserve this. And Tyler does too.”

“I just… not yet, you know? I don’t think it’ll be good for Tyler to be around him in school and here too, and I don’t want him to let it slip while he’s in there and cause Niall some trouble, he needs this job.”

“I can’t argue with that…” Zayn looked at him in understanding.

“So I was thinking that maybe I’ll just keep seeing him until school is over in a couple of months and just then I’ll slowly let him in here to spend time with Tyler and all.”

“I think that’s a clever plan, mate,” Zayn shrugged his shoulders.

There was a moment of silence before Liam spoke up, “Tyler gave you trouble sleeping?”

“Nah, he was exhausted so he practically passed out,” Zayn laughed, “you should go see him. And I should go anyway” Zayn stood up and so did Liam.

“Thanks so much, Z. For everything,” Liam gave him sort of a side hug.

“Always, mate, that’s what friends are for,” he smiled, walking to the living room to grab his stuff, “I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Right. See you, mate, thanks for staying with Tyler.”

“You’re welcome. Bye, Liam.”

After the door was closed behind Zayn, Liam walked up to Tyler’s room, opening the door slowly and seeing him already sleep, hugging Mr. Bear close to him. He smiled at the sight and walked over to the bed.

“Sleep tight, bean. I love you very, very much,” he whispered and kissed his forehead before leaving the room to get some sleep himself.

*

They were now just a bit over a month before classes were over and Tyler was now free from his cast. It was a relief because it was not only annoying for him but for Liam too, it was uncomfortable to eat, to sleep with and not even mention for having a bath. It always stung and there was nothing they could do about it and that’d get Tyler in a bad mood but it’d be gone quick. In other words, Tyler had managed it like a champ.

 Liam had stuck to his plan and kept seeing Niall, not every day, of course, but they managed to have little dates here and there without Tyler knowing. Not that he asked or that it was very difficult to hide from a three year old kid.

But still, Liam couldn’t wait until school was done so he could just have Niall around at his and make lunch or dinner and eat together or get to watch a movie cuddling in the living room or literally just seat and talk over a cup of tea of coffee in his house with his kid drawing or running around or singing along to stupid song of those cartoons he loved. He wanted them to coexist so badly, he missed the feeling of having a family, even if he never actually got to feel it properly or for long enough. But for now, this will have to do. Only a bit over a month, he could do that and then he’ll get it all together, because he knew, he just knew that things with Niall were going to work, it was like the two of them were made to be together, they complemented each other perfectly, and as cliché as it may sound, they were like pieces of puzzle that fit perfectly together.

“So, how was your date today?” Harry asked from the sofa in the living room as soon as Liam entered the house. Not greetings and ‘how was your day today’ were starting to become a normal thing lately.

“Good,” Liam smiled as he sat next to Harry on the sofa, “where’s Tyler?” he frowned.

“Are you seriously so smitten that you forgot your son’s napping time?” Harry raised an eyebrow at him and Liam sighed. He actually felt bad. “I’m sorry,” Harry apologized, “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, it was just a joke!”

“I know, but you’re actually right,” Liam explained, “I was thinking about it on my way back, I’m spending too much time with Niall and less time with Tyler each time. I already spent little time the way things were.”

“It’s okay, Li, don’t beat yourself over it. Tyler was being especially affectionate today, I think he was missing you.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? I should’ve came back and-“

“Liam,” Harry stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder, “nothing happened, he’s fine, you can have a life. Okay?”

“I just feel really guilty,” Liam said with an, indeed, guilty expression.

“No reason to, he-“

“Uncle Harry?” there was a tiny voice coming from the hallway that led to the bedrooms. “Da home yet?” he appeared, hugging his teddy bear with one arm and rubbing his eye with his other hand.

“Dad’s here, bean,” Liam leaned forward and opened his arms to him.

“Da!” Tyler exclaimed and walked quickly towards him, climbing into his lap and hugging his chest. “Miss da.”

“I missed you too, bean,” Liam ran a hand up and down Tyler’s back, “what’s got into you today, hm?”

Tyler only shrugged, “where da go?” he asked, looking up at Liam with his innocent brown eyes that his mother has told him so much that reminded her of him when he was a kid.

“I was… out. With a friend,” Liam explained, after all, it wasn’t a lie. He could see Harry biting his lips in order not to laugh from his peripheral vision.

“I go too? Next time.”

“Um… we’ll think about it, okay?”

“’kay,” Tyler nodded. “We watch Lion King, da? Want to watch Lion King.”

“Okay,” Liam smiled, “we can watch Lion King, Ty.”

“Alright, I should be going,” Harry announced, standing up from the sofa, “I’ll let you-“ he was suddenly stopped by the bell ringing, “I’ll get it.”

Harry moved away from Liam and towards the door, opening it but didn’t expect to see who was standing at the door. “Oh. Hi.”

Liam could hear someone talking from outside the door but couldn’t really make up the voice of the owner, so he just stayed on the couch with Tyler in his lap who was telling him he had had a dream about Lion King so that’s why he wanted to watch the movie now. But Tyler’s story was interrupted when Harry called him from the door.

“Come on, bean, let’s see who’s at the door,” Liam said, rearranging Tyler’s position so he was now supporting him with his hip. Tyler’s head was resting in Liam’s shoulder, still a bit sleepy and Mr. Bear was pressed to his chest. Harry shook his head at him with his eyes open wide and Liam looked at him confused. “What- oh” he was meant to ask Harry why he shook his head at him but understood once he saw who was standing at his door.

“Mr. Niall!” Tyler was suddenly wide awake.

“Oh, um- hi, Tyler,” Niall smiled, “that’s a pretty teddy bear you’ve got there, huh?”

“Name is Mr. Bear,” Tyler explained with a nod.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Bear,” Niall talked to the teddy, then moved his eyes to Liam, “hey, Liam.”

“Hey, Niall,” he couldn’t help but smile a little, “what’s up?”

“Da, Mr. Niall watch Lion King too,” Tyler spoke before Niall could get a word out.

“Tyler, I don’t-“

“I’m sorry, Tyler,” Niall cut Liam off, “but I need to go home very quick today, I’d love to watch Lion King any other day, okay?”

“But- Mr. Niall watch Lion King,” Tyler pouted and looked up at his dad, “yes, da?”

“Mr. Niall says he can’t, bean, I am sorry,” Liam pouted at him to show him sympathy. “Why don’t you go inside with uncle Harry, yeah? I’ll be back in a minute and we’ll watch the movie.”

“’kay, da,” the kid nodded slightly, still half pouting about not having Niall staying, “bye bye, Mr. Niall,” Tyler waved cutely at the blonde as Liam passed him to Harry. He then grabbed his keys that were next to the door and he stepped outside, closing the door behind him.

“Couldn’t wait to see me again?” Liam smirked.

“You wish,” Niall stuck his tongue out and then laughed. “No, I think my keys are in your car? I spent like twenty minutes looking for my keys while standing like an idiot at the door of the building but I couldn’t find them. Can we check if they are in your car?”

“Sure,” Liam nodded, “gotta look for the keys to open it, give me a second.” Liam then went inside the house again and Harry tried to ask him something but he ignored him and walked out again. “Let’s go.”

Minutes later, they had looked everywhere but they couldn’t find them and Niall was starting to panic, how will he get inside his house now?

“Oh my God, did I lose them? Can’t believe I’m so stupid, fucking sh-“

“Found them!” Liam exclaimed, and put the keys in front of Niall’s face who sighed in relief.

“Thank God. Thank you, Li.”

“They were very good hidden,” Liam said as he stepped out of the car and closed the door, Niall following him, “but you’re welcome, _Ni_ ,” he said, emphasizing the nickname and making the blond blush slightly.

“I’ll go so you can spend some father and son time,” Niall said, “I’m sorry for interrupting.”

“All good, just call next time you can’t wait to see me so I can hide Tyler,” Liam chuckled.

“I was not- I didn’t do it on purpose!” Niall exclaimed amused and Liam laughed.

“I know, I know, I was just teasing you.”

“I don’t like you,” Niall crossed his arms over his chest and faked a frown and a pout.

“Yes, you do,” Liam smiled that crinkly eyed smiled of his that was impossible not to love and pulled Niall’s arm to bring him closer and wrapped his arms around his middle. This might be the most intimate they’ve ever been.

“I did call you, you know?” Niall spoke, hands now on Liam’s biceps, “but you didn’t answer. I texted you too but didn’t reply so I had to come all the way here.”

“You did?” Liam frowned confused, “that’s weird.” He looked for his phone in his pocket only to find out he had ran out of battery. “Ups,” he smiled at Niall with a childish smile, “it’s dead.”

Niall rolled his eyes fondly at him, “it’s okay, I’ll make sure not to lose my keys in your car next time.”

“I loved seeing you a bit again though.”

“Me too,” Niall smiled and changed the position of his arms so he could hug Liam, resting his face in his shoulder and sighed.

“Soon, I promise,” Liam spoke softly and squeezed the blonde’s body slightly.

“I know,” Niall said, barely audible and smiled. They remained in that position for a moment before Niall let go, “I should be going, you’ve been out here for a while. Tyler must be asking where you went.”

“He asked me where I went today. I said I was out with a friend and he asked if he could come next time,” Liam shook his head and chuckled. “I think he’ll be happy when you start spending time around.”

“I can only hope,” Niall smiled nervously.

“Hey, he loves you already, nothing’s gonna change that, if anything, he’ll love you more.”

“I hope so,” Niall smiled slightly.

“Niall…” Liam sighed, “if this is too much or if you don’t wanna do this, then I completely understand, I know it can be too much, trust me, sometimes it’s still too much even for me.”

“No,” Niall shook his head, “it’s not that. It’s just a bit overwhelming, you know? Like, we’re so young but I don’t want him to be a reason not to be with you, I love him, he’s the nicest kid on earth.”

“You shouldn’t have to worry about him, he loves you,” Liam shrugged with an understanding smile and then hugged Niall, “and I do too.”

Niall felt his heart flutter and Liam’s words but was still relaxed into their hug because of how easy and true the words had came out from Liam’s mouth, because despite of their wait and the situation, it had been so easy to fall for each other.

“Me too,” he mumbled, so softly that he thought that Liam didn’t hear him but he knew he had when he pressed a kiss to the side of his head.

“Alright, I should really go inside now,” Liam said as he let go of Niall.

“Okay.”

“I’m glad we could talk this out.”

“Me too,” Niall smiled, feeling somehow warm inside.

“I’ll see you soon,” Liam leaned to peck Niall’s lips shortly.

“Bye,” Niall waved stupidly making Liam giggle on his way to the door, “love you,” he whispered and Liam turned around as he put the key into the lock and mouthed “I love you too” to him with a smile before disappearing behind the door.

“What even happened there, you were gone for like half an hour!” Harry hissed at him when he entered the house.

“We spent like twenty minutes looking for his keys in my car and then we kind of heart to heart talk, I don’t know how it happened but now we have confessed our endless love for each other,” Liam explained with the tone a high school girl would use to describe her crush.

“No need to be a dick,” Harry rolled his eyes, “so everything’s fine then?”

“Magnificent,” he nodded, “where’s Tyler?”

“Waiting in your room to watch Lion King, you should go already, I’ve already left the movie ready in the DVD player.”

“Thanks, mate,” Liam smiled and gave his friend a half hug, “don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Me neither, Liam, me neither,” Harry chuckled, “have a nice night with Tyler,” he patted Liam’s shoulder before walking towards the door, “I’ll see you soon.”

“Bye, Harry,” Liam said goodbye before walking over to his room to find Tyler with his teddy bear sitting against the headboard of the bed waiting. “Ready for Lion King?”

“Yes!” Tyler exclaimed happily and Liam smiled. He might not have what people call a normal twenty-two year old life but he wouldn’t change it for the world.

*

Now there were only two weeks left until school was over for the semester and Liam had been stressed as hell. He had heard a chat at work, of course he wasn’t prying he just… he just happened to be near when said conversation happened, but he heard the owner of the company talking with the head of his department about how he’ll be leaving the next month and that he’ll pick someone to be his replacement before he leaves. No one knew, he hadn’t told anyone, he didn’t mean to be selfish, but a new position with a higher pay would certainly come in very handy.

So he had been exhausting himself at work _and_ at home. His boss had been a bit confused at first about his sudden interest in work but he couldn’t complain about everything Liam got done.

All this left him with little time to see Niall, because most of his free time he spent it with Tyler, taking him out to the park, to the movies or to visit his uncles. So he had fit Niall into his life, because that was what he was going to do even before he knew about this new opportunity at work. So he had decided to stop by at Niall’s after work, just for a short while before going home.

Niall had been both confused and happy to see Liam, it wasn’t usually the time of the day they were used to meet but it’s been a couple of days since he last saw him so he wasn’t complaining when he got Liam’s text.

“Hey,” Liam smiled when Niall opened the door of his flat to him. He pecked his lips and hugged him by wrapping his arms around his middle before going in.

“Hi,” Niall smiled once they let go and he closed the door, “haven’t seen you in a couple of days. If it wasn’t for your texts I’d say you were trying to avoid me,” he chuckled nervously.

“’course not,” Liam smiled sweetly, “I’m happy with you. And actually I’m here to explain what’s been going on since I didn’t even have the time to do that.”

“Is everything okay?” Niall asked seeming worried as he pointed to the couch a few meters away from them to take a seat.

“Yeah, it’s fine. My boss is leaving his position soon and I heard he’ll pick someone new before he does and I really, _really_ want it, you know? I could do with a bit more money.”

“So, uhm… does that mean you’re working extra hours or…?” Niall asked, still not understanding what Liam said.

“Well, kind of. I’m just working harder. I think I’ve left some sort of impression on my boss lately. And I’m doing a bunch of stuff at home too. Tyler got mad at me the other day for not being able to play his ABC game with him,” he shook his head with a chuckle, “he’s been a lot into alphabet things lately.”

“Yeah, we’ve started to work a bit with that in school, he’s been very interested,” Niall explained, “I’m glad you got him a game.”

“Actually, Harry did, but I played with him a bit before this madness for work started. Hopefully it’ll be over next month.”

“I hope you get it,” Niall smiled, “you work so hard for you and Tyler, you deserve it.”

“I hope. I don’t know though,” Liam shrugged, “there are a bunch of people in my sector that have kids and a lot of them have been there for longer than me so…”

“Well, that means you need to keep your hard work, that doesn’t mean you won’t get it.”

“I know,” Liam sighed, letting his head fall and rest on Niall’s shoulder. “I’ve missed you.”

“Me too,” Niall replied, a small smile on his lips as he moved his hand to Liam’s hair.

“I can’t wait for these two weeks to be over so we can be together.”

“It’ll take a bit of time though. I can’t suddenly start spending all my time in your house,” Niall chuckled.

“Yeah, but we’ll see each other more. I could use some company.”

“Hey, I’m company now.”

“Yeah, but… you know what I mean,” Liam shrugged and lifted his face.

“Will we, um… will we be like, together? When school finishes and all that,” Niall’s voice was a bit softer now and Liam could sense him a bit nervous and he frowned.

“Aren’t we now?”

“W- well, yes, but- I’m just not sure where we’re standing and-“

“Labels don’t really matter to me. I want to be with you and that’s it. But I guess you can call us a couple if you want.”

“So we’re like- boyfriends?” Niall asked and Liam chuckled.

“I guess,” Liam shrugged and smiled. “God, I feel so old.”

“Why?” Niall asked confused at the sudden, out of the blue comment.

“Well, I didn’t want to say it but I was thinking that’s a term young people would use,” he laughed.

“You _are_ young, Liam.”

“Yeah… just in a different page that most people our age.”

“Well, we can also call each other partners if you want,” Niall scrunched up his nose.

“I actually like that term better.”

“Oh my God, you’re so old,” Niall laughed.

“You still like me.”

“I like you regardless,” the blonde smiled and leaned in to kiss Liam.

“Have I reassured you enough now? Now that we’re _partners_ ,” Liam wiggled his eyebrows.

“Yeah,” Niall laughed shortly and kissed him again, “now I can hold your hand and kiss you whenever I want.”

“You could’ve done that anyway,” Liam said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“It’s just that all our dates have been somewhere else and I didn’t know how you’d feel if I’d done that. We haven’t had that much time just on our own,” Niall shrugged one shoulder.

“I’m sorry… it’s just been so long since I’ve been on dates and I was just so excited I completely missed that.”

“It’s fine, I enjoyed all our dates,” Niall smiled, “but as soon as we get some time on our own I’m going to cuddle the fuck out of you.”

“Cuddle?” Liam raised an eyebrow, “I thought you were going to say something a bit more… _naughty_ ,” Liam chuckled.

“That too. But we can’t skip cuddle. It’s a must in a relationship.”

“Oh, is it?”

“Yep,” Niall popped out the ‘p’, “and I’m the big spoon.”

“You wish!” Liam laughed.

“I _am_ the big spoon!”

“I’m the big spoon, you’re smaller than me.”

“So? I can still be the big spoon!”

“No, you can’t.”

“Yes. Yes, I can.”

“No!” Liam exclaimed, throwing himself on top of Niall and moving around him so he’ll be cuddling him as the big spoon.

“No! No, Liam!” Niall laughed and tried to move away, pushing Liam so he’ll turn around in order for _him_ to be the big spoon.

They spent a couple of minutes wrestling and laughing until Liam finally got to hug his arms around Niall from behind. “I win,” he whispered, a little out of breath.

“I let you win,” Niall tried to sound mad but failed miserably when he chuckled.

“’course you did,” the blonde could almost see Liam rolling his eyes at him before he felt a light kiss being pressed on the back of his head.

There was a minute of silence in which they didn’t move and they used to regain their breaths before Niall spoke. “I like this,” he spoke softly and cuddled more into Liam.

“Me too,” Liam sighed, “me too.” And then there was another moment of silence that Liam had to break, “this visit already has already prolonged enough, I should be going,” he sighed again, and unwrapped his arms from around Niall’s body.

“Okay,” Niall said, almost sounding sad and he pressed a lingering kiss to Liam’s lips once they were sitting again.

“I guess they can wait five more minutes,” Liam mumbled against the blonde’s lips once they pulled apart but not taking his eyes away from them before he dived in for another –not so short– kiss.

*

Last day of school for Tyler was super emotive for him. Even though everyone had reassured him that he’d be seeing his friends again soon he was still sad it was over. And so were a lot of the kids. They were also sad because Mr. Niall won’t be their teacher anymore, but Niall had taken the time to tell them that their new teacher would be amazing and even more fun than he was (even though he had no clue who it’d be.)

All the parents had been there for the last day and they had a meeting in which all the kids had sang a song together and all the parents got to see all the drawings and works their kids had done during the semester. Liam had to ask for permission at work to leave earlier so he could attend but having worked so hard lately, his boss had no trouble letting him go this one time.

By the end of the school day, all the parents were gone or leaving except for Liam. He had allowed Tyler to go to his friend’s Nick house to play and promised his mother he’ll be there to pick him out in a couple of hours.

“So, I’ve got some news,” Niall told Liam once they were walking out of the school building.

“Good or bad news?”

“Good news, I guess.”

“Good. What is it?”

“I’ve got a new job for the next semester.”

“Oh,” Liam blinked, “you don’t have to move cities or anything, right?”

“No,” Niall chuckled, “it’s almost the same distance from my flat that this one.”

“Then why change?” Liam asked, “do you not like this school?”

“Yeah, of course I do. But I thought it’d be better for us and Tyler, you know? Like, I won’t be his teacher anymore but he also wouldn’t see me around in the school so no harm for any of us, right? And they payment is a bit better there too.”

“Oh. Okay, well, I think that’s a great plan but do it only if you feel comfortable changing work places, don’t think about this too much, okay?”

“No, I actually want to do this, I think it’ll be good for all of us.”

“Alright then, if you’re sure, you’ve got my support,” Liam smiled as they reached his car. “You’re coming over, right? I’ll drop you at yours before I pick up Tyler.”

“Sure,” Niall shrugged, getting into the passenger seat and securing his seatbelt. “Can we pick up some donuts first? I’m hungry.”

“’course,” Liam started the car. “We’ll get some time to cuddle like you wanted.”

“I was thinking about watching the game that starts in less than an hour but I guess cuddling sounds good too,” Niall laughed.

“We can cuddle while watching the game and eating donuts, how’s that sound?”

“Messy,” Niall scrunched up his nose, “we’ll get donuts crumbs everywhere.”

“You’d rather eat donuts than cuddle with me?”

“I’d rather not make a mess,” he chuckled, “we can eat donuts then cuddle. See? We can do all things.”

“Okay,” Liam rolled his eyes.

They were silent for a while and Niall turned on the radio, humming to the tune that was playing until they reached the place where they bought donuts. Liam made sure to buy Tyler’s favorite ones for when he was back home.

As soon as they were back in the car and Liam started driving again, he began speaking, “when the semester began I was so happy Tyler was going back to school because he was driving me insane at home but to be honest these last few months that I wanted them to go quick, they went so slow,” Liam paused, “I’m so happy I met you,” he moved his hand go Niall’s thigh, not moving his eyes from the road, “and I’m happy you accepted me even though I’ve got a kid when you could go for whoever you want.”

“I went for who I want. I want you, Liam.”

“And I’m very happy about it,” Liam smiled and glanced quickly at the blond, “I thought it’d take me forever, probably until Tyler was older to find someone to spend time with but you’ve been a gift to me, I swear.”

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Niall smiled, “I can’t promise I won’t screw up but I will try my best.”

“If you think I don’t screw up…” Liam laughed, returning his hand to the wheel.

“I can’t believe I’m talking about raising a kid…” Niall laughed amused, “I mean, I know we haven’t talked about it b- but, it kind of goes unspoken-“

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want but I can’t believe you _want_ this,” Liam was now the one amused, “there is a lot of talking that needs to be done if you want to be a part of his raising,” he said now more serious.

“I’d love to if you let me,” Niall’s smile was now small but sincere, “I’d stick to however you want to raise him, he’s your kid.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t be wrong though. And you have a different insight on kids than I do, that can be more than useful.”

“Okay,” Niall nodded, “thank you, Liam” now it was Niall who moved his hand to Liam’s thigh and squeezed lightly before moving it away.

There was a small silence, but a good one, Niall was happy they had this talk and that things were being setting down before everything.

“Did you realize the talk we’ve just had even though this relationship is less than a month old?” Liam got him out of his thought suddenly.

“Well, I’m not planning on going anywhere any time soon.”

“I wasn’t thinking of letting you go any time soon either,” Liam smiled as he parked the car in front of his house.

Their relationship forecast looked very promising so far.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooo, you all wanted niam together, you got it! thoughts? (: x


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bit late but heyyy, new chapter, hope you enjoy! (:  
> (in honor of liam's birthday, have a new chapter :D)

“We go park?” Tyler asked again as Liam finished putting his clothes on him.

“Yes. It’s been a while since we’ve been to the park, huh?”

“Yes. I like park,” Tyler nodded. “Swings!” he exclaimed happily.

“I loved swings when I was a kid too,” Liam smiled a bit nostalgic.

“Da no love swings no more?”

“I still do, but I have to take care of you so you won’t hurt yourself when you’re in the swings,” Liam poked Tyler’s tummy, making him giggle.

“I big!”

“Of course you are,” Liam laughed, “but I still have to take care of you. That’s what dads do.”

“’kay,” Tyler nodded again, “thank you for take care,” he hugged his dad’s leg.

“You’re welcome, bean, you’re welcome.”

 

“Paaaaaark!” Tyler started running everywhere as soon as they had reached the park.

“Tyler, come back, you’re gonna-“ Liam started talking, following Tyler with his eyes so he won’t lose him in between all the kids and their parents when he saw him fall on his butt. He trotted all the way to where his kid was, thinking he’d find a crying Tyler or at least about to, but instead, he found him sitting in the floor, laughing and with Niall kneeling next to him.

“Da, look! Mr. Niall!” Tyler’s smile was so happy his face could break.

“Hey, Liam,” Niall smiled and Liam smiled back.

“Oh, what a surprise! Isn’t it, Tyler?” Liam asked his kid.

“Yes!” Tyler exclaimed as he stood up with Niall’s help, “Mr. Niall stay, please, da?”

“I don’t know, you have to ask him if he wants to stay,” Liam shrugged his shoulders.

“Mr. Niall stay and play?” Tyler turned to the blond with big, shinny eyes.

“I’d love to stay,” Niall smiled, ruffling the kid’s hair. Tyler cheered and took his dad’s hand and Niall’s hand on each of his.

“We go swings!”

“Alright, little man, calm down,” Liam laughed as they had to keep the pace with a running Tyler.

“Slide!” Tyler exclaimed, pointing towards the three slides meters away from them.

“We’re going there first?”

“Yes,” Tyler nodded quickly before he ran off to one of the slides, the medium sized one.

“I hope you’re ready to keep up with him,” Liam turned to look at Niall while they sped up to the sledge.

“Please, I deal with twenty of them on a daily basis,” Niall made a gesture with his hand.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Teacher,” Liam rolled his eyes but laughed.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Niall mumbled, looking down.

“I know,” Liam smiled bigger, taking Niall’s hand in his and squeezing before letting it go. “Are you ready?” he asked Tyler once they reached the slide.

“Yes, da!” the kid exclaimed and quickly climbed the ladder and slid down to be encountered with Liam’s opened arms. “Again!”

Liam would never understand how doing this activity again and again could be so fun, but he had been a kid too and he remembered loving slides too.

“Can I catch him this time?” Niall asked after a few times Tyler’s slid down.

“Sure,” Liam nodded, moving to the side, “Niall will catch you this time, okay Ty?”

They saw Tyler nod at them before he sat down at the top and went down the slide again, Niall catching him in his arms.

After a few more times, Liam suggested they should move to the swings and Tyler cheered, running towards them. Again, they took turns to push Tyler in the swing and he was cheering and laughing all the time. Liam lived for the little moments that made him that happy, kids always saw the good in everything and felt happy with the simplest things.

“Alright now, let’s take a break,” Liam said as he guided his son to a bench. “Want some water?” he asked and Tyler nodded. So Liam took out a bottle of water from the backpack he had carried with him and handed it to Tyler. “Cookie?”

“Cookie!” Tyler nodded and grabbed the cookie he was handed, “hank ya da” he spoke over a mouthful of cookie.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Tyler,” Liam told him.

“Want cookie, Mr. Niall?” the kid asked Niall and handed his cookie to him.

“I’m good, Tyler, thank you,” the blond smiled.

“It’s just Niall now, bean, okay? No Mr. anymore,” Liam explained.

“Just Niall?” Tyler frowned, “why?”

“Because he’s not your teacher anymore, he’s just Niall now.”

“No teacher no more?” Tyler asked, suddenly seeming terrified and his eyes got glassy.

“Not anymore,” Niall explained, “but I’ll still see you a lot, Tyler, don’t worry,” he smiled.

“Promise?” Tyler sniffled.

“I promise,” Niall smiled and ran a hand through the kids slightly curled hair.

“’kay,” he nodded and went back to munch on his cookie.

“Where to now?” Liam asked his kid when he was done.

“Climber!” he exclaimed and Liam looked at him hesitantly.

“Let him go, it’s only a few meters away,” Niall told him, and pointing just a couple of meters ahead of them to the climber.

“Okay,” Liam nodded to him and turned to Tyler again, “you can go, we’ll stay here. We’ll be watching you.”

“’kay, da,” Tyler nodded before running away.

“I never really liked the climber, seems dangerous,” Liam commented as he watched Tyler.

“It’s good for him, helps developing balance and strength,” Niall explained to Liam.

“I knew I’d learn some stuff from you,” Liam turned to him with a smile.

“Is that why you’re keeping me?” Niall raised an eyebrow.

“No, I’m keeping you because I like you very much,” Liam’s eyes went crinkly when he smiled. “Also, what a way to find you,” Liam laughed, “it was like out of some movie.”

“I know,” Niall laughed along with him, “I didn’t know where I was supposed to find you so I was just walking around when I bumped into Tyler. It was fate,” he chuckled.

 

“Lunch time now, bean, alright?” Liam asked as they walked away from the park and held his kid’s hand.

“What we eat today, da?” Tyler looked up at his dad, “Mr. Niall come too?”

“I told you it’s just Niall now. And I don’t know, you should ask him if he wants to come.”

“Come eat lunch with da and I?” Tyler turned his head to the other side to look up at the blonde with hopeful eyes.

“I’d love to,” Niall smiled down at him and Tyler cheered.

“Niall said yes, da,” Tyler turned again to look at Liam with a big smile on his face and he chuckled.

“Yes, I heard that, Ty. Where do you wanna go?” he asked Niall.

“I don’t know, wherever you two wanna go,” the blond shrugged, “I’d kill for some Mc Donald’s or something like that, to be honest.”

“What Maconald, da?” Tyler asked, mispronouncing the name.

“He doesn’t know Mc Donald’s?” Niall asked with big, surprised eyes.

“Well, he’s really small and I don’t want him to eat that yet, you know?”

“Good choice, you’re right,” Niall nodded, “we should just walk a bit and see what we find, I’m not picky about food.”

“No,” Tyler suddenly said and they both looked down at him, “we go Maconald,” he said very serious.

“We’re not going there, it’s bad for you, bean.”

“Want Maconald,” Tyler frowned.

“But it’s bad, Ty. Oh, I know! Remember that one place we went not long ago and you had that ham and cheese pie?” he asked Tyler, “you loved that one.”

“Yes!” he cheered, “want that, da.”

“We can go there, what do you think?” He asked and Tyler nodded happily and he turned to Niall, “is a small little place, I think you’ll like it.” Niall didn’t answer, he just smiled at him.

 

“Love food,” Tyler spoke over a mouthful of his pie.

“Don’t speak with your mouth full,” Liam sighed for like, the millionth time in his life.

“He’s already like me,” Niall chuckled.

“You speak with your mouth full?” Liam frowned.

“No,” the blonde chuckled again, “I love food.”

“Oh. Well, who doesn’t, right?”

“We get ice cream after, yes da?” Tyler asked out of the blue.

“Okay, we can have ice cream but don’t make a mess like the last time,” he said and gave him a serious look.

“No mess,” Tyler shook his head, “no mess.”

They ordered their ice cream as dessert and Liam had spent more time trying to get Tyler not to make a mess and not stain his clothes (and the whole table) than talking to Niall. But the blond helped him, taking a napkin and cleaning Tyler’s hands or his cheeks when he’d get ice cream all over his face. He’d smile at him sweetly and give him an understanding smile.

After they were done and everything was paid for, Liam insisting on paying for Niall’s lunch too, they started walking towards Liam’s house. The whole time was spent listening to Tyler’s blabbing about his cartoons and some story of school that Niall already knew but still listened attentively and laughed.

Moments later, they had reached Liam’s house so it was time to say goodbye. Liam would have loved Niall to stay over a bit longer, but he didn’t want to press the matter so soon.

“Alright, Ty, we’re home so say goodbye to Niall.”

“Noooo,” Tyler whined, “Niall stay.”

“He can’t stay bean, he already spent lots of time with us today, c’mon.”

Tyler pouted but still turned to Niall and opened his arms while Niall crouched to be his height, “bye, Niall,” he whispered.

“Goodbye, Ty. I’ll see you very soon, okay?” he hugged back the kid and ran a hand up and down his back.

“Promise?”

“Of course. I promise,” Niall said, letting go of him. He put out his pinky for him and Tyler looked at him confused, “it’s a pinky promise, c’mon.” Tyler held his pinky out, still confused but quickly caught up when Niall linked their pinkies. “There. Pinky promise I’ll see you very soon.”

“’kay,” Tyler nodded with a smile.

“Good,” Liam smiled at them as Niall stood up again, “you can go inside, I’ll be there in two seconds, so don’t make any mess, okay?”

“No mess, da,” Tyler shook his head, going inside his house.

Liam didn’t close the door completely, he leaves it just a bit open to hear or see if something happens with Tyler. He turns to Niall after he sees Tyler get into his room safely.

“I hope today wasn’t boring for you,” Liam speaks not too loud.

“Not at all, loved today,” he smiled, “I’d love to do it again.”

“Thanks,” Liam smiled relieved, “I’d love it too.” And just as he is about to speak again, he hears a “da!” coming from inside the house and he sighs. “I need to go inside. But I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Definitely, yeah,” Niall smiled and stepped forward to kiss Liam’s lips briefly.

“Talk to you later,” Liam smiled and took one of Niall’s hands in his, squeezing it lightly before letting go with a smile and opening the door to go inside.

“Bye,” Niall mumbled before he turned to leave, hearing the door close behind him. He sighed contently, making his way back home with a smile in his face. Things still seemed to go wonderfully for them.

*

“Tyler!” Liam yelled across the hall while his son ran across it and locked himself inside his room.

“No!” he heard Tyler yell from inside his room and he sighed, making his way to his room and trying to open the door but was stopped when there was pressure from the other side.

“Tyler, please,” Liam sighed.

“No! No want no bath!” Tyler yelled again.

“But we’ve got a very important visit today, bean, you’re gonna love it. Don’t you want to be all clean?”

“No!” Tyler yelled again and he sighed _again._ Then there was a moment of silence. “Who visit?” came softly from the other side of the door.

“That’s a surprise!” Liam laughed, “and we’re having pizza too. You like pizza, yeah?”

“Like pizza,” Tyler spoke from the other side of the door.

“Then we’ve got to be all clean,” Liam spoke, “I have to shower too.”

“No bath,” Tyler said and opened the door, “Shower. I big.” He told Liam with determination on his face and Liam smiled, trying not to laugh. He loved his kid.

“Okay. C’mon, we’ve got to get ready,” he held Tyler’s hand and they walked to the bathroom.

 

“Shower no fun,” Tyler pouted once he was all clean and Liam was ready putting his fresh clothes on.

“You wanted to have a shower because you said you were a big boy,” Liam explained as he combed his hair.

“But no toys!” Tyler whined and kept pouting.

“No toys in the shower for big boys, no.”

“No want no shower no more,” Tyler frowned.

“So we’re going back to baths then?” Liam asked, now applying some gel.

“No like baths.”

“Then what are we doing?”

“No bath and no shower,” Tyler nodded very sure of himself and Liam laughed.

“You can’t go around without showering, silly bean.”

“Yes can.”

“No, you can’t.”

“But, da-“ Tyler was about to protest when the bell rang, “visit!” he exclaimed and ran out of the bathroom. “Da!” he heard him calling from the front door of the house.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Liam told him as he walked out of the bathroom. “Let’s see who it is,” he lifted Tyler from the floor and placed him on his hip so he could look through the peephole.

“Niall!” Tyler exclaimed and squirmed in his dad’s arms to put him down. He opened the door quickly as soon as his tiny feet touched the door.

“Heeey!” Niall greeted him with a big smile and opened his arms and Tyler jumped with his arms open too. Niall lifted him off the ground and hugged him, making Tyler giggle before putting him down again.

“Come on, in you go, Ty,” Liam spoke to Tyler and Tyler went in and sat on the sofa. “Hi,” Liam smiled.

“Hey,” Niall smiled back and they both looked at each other for a minute before Niall went for a hug. Liam gave him an apologetic smile when they pulled apart. Tyler was still in the room and Niall could see hesitation on his face about how to say hello, so he thought a hug would be the closest they could get for now.

“What we doing, da?” Tyler asked from the sofa as he closed the door.

“We’re gonna watch a movie you like a lot.”

“What movie?” Tyler asked excited.

“I’m gonna put this on the kitchen, yeah?” Niall said to Liam as we walked into the kitchen to place the pizzas he had brought over.

“It’s a surprise, isn’t it, Niall?” Liam turned to see Niall just walking out of the kitchen.

“I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy,” Niall said with a funny voice as he stood next to Liam.

“Bad Squishy, bad Squishy!” Tyler exclaimed and Niall looked at him with wide eyes then turned to Liam.

“I didn’t think he’ll know…” he whispered to Liam, “how many times have you watched that movie, hm?” he asked Tyler with squinting eyes.

“A gazillion!” Tyler exclaimed and fell backwards in the sofa until he was lying there and Liam rolled his eyes at him fondly.

“Let’s get the pizza before it gets cold and we’ll watch, okay? You stay here for a sec, Ty.”

“’kay, da!” Tyler exclaimed happily, still lying on the sofa, now watching at the ceiling.

Liam and Niall walked into the kitchen and Liam went straight to the cupboard to look for plates and glasses before they started serving a slice of pizza on each plate.

“What are you doing?” Liam frowned confused as he saw Niall cutting a slice of pizza.

“Oh, um- I was cutting it for Tyler. He doesn’t cut his food just yet, right…?”

Liam blinked and then smiled, “you didn’t have to, I would’ve done it.”

“It’s okay,” Niall shrugged with a smile as he went back to cutting. “These aren’t too big, right?” he frowned at the pieces of pizza he had cut.

“They are fine,” Liam nodded as he poured some coke in their glasses.

“He’s got a Spiderman cup?” Niall chuckled as he saw Tyler’s cup.

“Yeah, he’s got all superheroes though.”

“I thought he liked Superman better.”

“He doesn’t know the difference between Marvel and DC yet,” Liam chuckled.

Niall smiled at him but didn’t answer and waited until Liam was done, “all ready?” he asked and Liam nodded. They walked out of the kitchen to find Tyler in the same position he was when they left minutes ago.

“Ready for pizza and movie night?” Liam asked him as they placed everything on the small table in front of the sofa.

“Yes da,” he nodded.

“I’ll put the movie on and we can start then,” Liam smiled as he moved around to get the movie starting as Niall sat next to Tyler, leaving the other side for him to sit.

 

“Is coming Niall!” Tyler exclaimed and pointed at the TV.

“I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy. Come on Squishy, come on little Squishy!” Niall repeated the words of the film.

“Bad Squishy, bad Squishy!” Tyler replied the words of the movie and the three of them laughed.

By then Tyler was sitting in between them, leaning closer to Liam who had his arm resting on the back of the sofa, his hand slightly touching the back of Niall’s head every couple of minutes and playing with the hair there mindlessly.

More time passed by as they kept watching, suddenly finding the three of them singing along to “what do we do? We swim, we swim!” and then laughed. But unfortunately, the movie was done at some point and Tyler was hyper.

“Want ice cream!” he exclaimed.

“We don’t have ice cream now, Tyler,” Liam told him as he organized the plates and glassed used to get them back to the kitchen.

“But want ice cream, da,” he pouted.

“I can go get some ice cream,” Niall commented with a shrug.

“No, we can’t get ice cream now.”

“But Niall can, da!” Tyler looked at him with big eyes.

“No, Tyler.”

“I’m serious, I can go get it real quick, okay?” Niall stood up and checked he had his walled on his pocket before he walked towards the door, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Niall, don’t-“ Liam started but Niall cut him off.

“It’s no problem, I’m serious,” he smiled before walking out the door and Liam shook his head with a sigh.

 

“… and they lived happily ever after,” Liam whispered as he finished his story to Tyler, who was now asleep, his chest rising and falling softly, his teddy bear, pressed to his side. Liam stood up from the edge of the bed where he was sitting and made his way out of the room, closing the door quietly and he sighed. It never took him so long to put Tyler to sleep, he was super hyper that night. He walked back to the living room, where he found Niall still sitting on the sofa and watching something on the TV. The blond smiled at him when he noticed he was back and patted the space next to him on the sofa.

“Had a hard time putting him to sleep?” Niall asked as Liam sat beside him and he moved so he was sitting a bit more straight.

“Yeah… coke and ice cream and anything sugar are no good for kids his age at night, makes him super hyper.”

“Oh,” Niall paused, “I didn’t think about it or I wouldn’t have bought the ice cream…”

“It’s okay. About that…” Liam started and turned a bit so his body was now facing Niall, “I don’t want to sound mad ‘cause I’m not but, when I say no to Tyler about something, I need you to stick with me, don’t go the other direction.”

“Oh,” Niall said again and blinked, “I- I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I should have.”

“No, you shouldn’t, and that’s why I’m telling you,” Liam smiled slightly, “it’s about teaching him he can’t have everything whenever he wants it, like, discipline, you know? Even if it’s just ice cream. And if I say no it’s because I know what’s best for him. Most of the time at least.”

“Yeah, I- you’re right. I’m sorry. I should’ve stopped when you told me to.”

“It’s okay. I’m not telling you this to beat yourself over it, I didn’t think this would happen either so I didn’t think there’ll be any need to tell you this. But that’s what parents- people who raise kids do, talk about it.”

“Parents,” Niall said softly and the corner of his lips turned upwards like he couldn’t help it. “Okay. I’m sorry, again. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

“I trust it to be that way,” Liam smiled and Niall smiled back.

“Now that we’re alone…” Niall now smirked and moved closer.

“What? Did you have any plans for us?” Liam smirked too like it was contagious and leaned in closer.

“Not really… but I was thinking a bit of a snog would be nice, yeah?”

“Hm… I think I might be with you on that one,” Liam spoke, millimeters away from Niall’s lips before he closed the space between them.

*

“Okay, so what sound do ducks make?” Niall asked as he played some game Louis had gotten Tyler.

“Quack!” Tyler exclaimed as he looked among the pieces of his game he needed to put on the board.

“And what sound do dogs make?”

“Bark!” Tyler exclaimed again happily and Niall nodded distractedly as he looked through the pieces. He was too focused on watching Liam who was talking on the phone in the kitchen, a worried and tired expression on his face as he ran a hand through his hair. He frowned. He could still hear Tyler babbling and he nodded again absently. This kept going for a couple more minutes until he saw Liam hang up and sigh.

“I’ll be right back, Ty, I need to say something to your dad.”

“’kay, Niall,” Tyler nodded, going back to his game.

Niall then stood up, walking into the kitchen. Liam didn’t even notice him, he was too deep in thought, a frown on his face. He walked closer, poking the side of his mouth to turn it upwards like a smile. “Smiles look better on you.”

Liam seemed to get out of his thoughts at the touch and looked at Niall, offering a tired smile, “sorry.”

“What’s up?” Niall asked him, resting his hip against the counter of the kitchen.

“Work,” he sighed, “they want to have a meeting about something but it’s Saturday, I spend Saturdays with Tyler, I don’t want to go.”

Niall didn’t say anything for a moment, thinking of what should be the right thing to say, “if you don’t go, will it affect the decision of your boss when he has too choose someone to take his place?”

“Probably.”

“Then you should go. I know you don’t want to, but you’ve been working so hard, it’d be a shame if you’d let this stop you.”

“I’m just tired. Been working so much lately.”

“I know,” Niall smiled slightly in understanding, “but you’ll get your reward soon.”

“I hope so,” Liam sighed and moved to wrap his arms around Niall’s waist, his head on his shoulder, “will you stay with Tyler meanwhile?”

“Of course,” Liam could hear the smile in the blonde’s voice.

“Thank you,” Liam said and let go of the hug to kiss his lips. “I should go tell Tyler.” Niall nodded and they walked to the living room where Tyler was still playing, singing along to some song that was on the TV. “Tyler?” he asked and his son turned to look at him, “I have to leave for work for a couple of hours, okay? You’ll stay with Niall.” he explained and Tyler frowned at him. “What?”

“Today Saturday. Da no work Saturdays.” Tyler was so smart, even for being only three.

“I know, bean, I’m sorry,” Liam sighed and sat next to Tyler on the floor and kissed the top of his head, “but this is very important, I promise I’ll make it up to you. But you’ll have fun with Niall.”

“’kay, da,” Tyler nodded, leaning into his dad, “miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, bean,” he hugged his son before he stood up. “I’ll go change, can’t go dressed like this,” Liam said with a chuckle before disappearing on the hall to the bedrooms.

Minutes later, when he came back into the living room the game Tyler was playing was all inside its box and they were now picking a movie to watch.

“I’m leaving,” he announced and they both turned to him. Tyler walked up to him and hugged him.

“Bye, da,” his voice was muffled against his leg.

“Bye, bean, I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he ruffled his hair and Niall walked over.

“Don’t stress too much over it, okay?” he said and Liam nodded, leaning over to kiss his lips. His eyes went wide for half a second when he realized what he had just done, Tyler being still attached to his leg but Niall just smiled at him sweetly and Tyler didn’t say a thing.

“I won’t. See you in a couple of hours I guess. Text me if you need anything.”

“Will do,” Niall nodded, “now go, come on,” he said with a short laugh and started guiding him towards the door.

 

 _‘this is taking longer than i thought sorry :(‘_ Niall had gotten a text from Liam almost at dinner time. He’s been gone for a couple of hours already, but Niall didn’t mind staying with Tyler. They had watched a movie and played a game and currently Tyler was sitting on the kitchen table drawing while Niall cooked something.

 _‘all good. we’ll be waiting for ya :)’_ Niall pocketed his phone after he replied and finished cooking.

“Ty, love, dinner is ready so we need to get all your things back to your room, okay?” Tyler nodded at him, putting all his crayons and pencils back in their boxes and took all his papers, climbing down the chair and disappearing out the door of the kitchen to reappear a moment later.

“What we eat, Niall?” Tyler asked as he climbed his chair again.

“Something you’ll like,” Niall said as he placed a plate in front of him and Tyler looked at it and then scrunched up his nose in a way it reminded Niall of Liam. “What’s up?”

“No like veggies,” Tyler shook his head.

“But you haven’t tried this yet, Tyler. It has noodles and chicken too, I promise you’re gonna like it.”

Tyler stared at the food for a moment longer before nodding shortly, “’kay,” he mumbled. Niall took a bit of the food in a fork and handed it to Tyler who put it in his mouth slowly and not very sure looking. He watched him chew until he swallowed down the food before asking, “it’s good, isn’t it?”

“Is okay,” Tyler shrugged. And that was good enough for Niall. He knew how hard it was to get kids to eat vegetables and Liam had told him in numerous occasions how much Tyler hated them and how hard it was for him to get them to eat them.

So dinner passed slowly but Tyler finished his food in the end, which had Niall very happy. He let Tyler watch some TV after dinner while he did the dishes and then joined him when he was done. Tyler had told him everything about the characters of the cartoon he was watching. For being so young, he had a very good understanding of how family members were related in a way he could explain it to Niall.

After around an hour, Tyler was already falling asleep on him so he decided to put him to bed. Tyler had complained about having to brush his teeth when Niall had told him to do it (as he did every time he was too sleepy to) but he had ended up doing it in the end. Niall let him cuddle with Mr. Bear in bed as he told him a bedtime story just like he knew Liam did every night. Once he was done, he kissed the kid’s forehead and left the room as silently as he could.

He took his phone out to check and realized Liam had texted him long ago, _‘dont make tyler wait up for me if i dont get home tho’_  he had replied to his earlier text. He decided he’d watch some TV and maybe have some tea. He could do with beer, but Liam didn’t have any and he wasn’t going to leave the house and Tyler alone just to buy that. So he walked into the kitchen and put the kettle in the stove.

 _‘just put him to bed. i’ll wait up for ya tho :)’_ he replied as he waited for the water to boil.

He got a reply moments later when he was sitting on the sofa, cup of warm tea in hand. _‘i’m on my way already, see you in a mo’_

Niall didn’t reply to that text, so he just drank his tea in silence as he flicked through the channels on the TV. He didn’t know how much time has passed until he heard the door being opened, but his tea was gone already.

“Hey,” Liam gave a tired smile when he saw him as he locked the front door of the house.

“Hey,” Niall spoke softly, standing up and walking over to Liam to put a hand on his chest and lean over to kiss him. “How was it?”

“Fucking awful,” Liam sighed as he threw his briefcase on the sofa and loosened his tie, “I’m so tired,” he said as he walked over to the small coffee table and grabbed the remote to turn off the TV. “C’mon,” he said as he took Niall’s hand in his and turned off the light and walked over to his bedroom.

Liam sat on the edge of the bed and got rid of his shoes and then threw his tie over the bedside table before moving on the bed so he was sitting with his back against the headboard of the bed. “What are you doing there?” he chuckled when he noticed Niall was leaning on his arm by the door, “come ‘ere,” he patted the space next to him on the bed.

Niall obeyed, walking around to the other side of the bed and sitting next to Liam. He intertwined their fingers.

“Tyler’s in bed already, yeah?” Liam asked and Niall nodded. “I’ll go see him and be right back, yeah?”

“Sure,” Niall smiled at him and Liam kissed his hand before letting go.

A few minutes later, Liam was back in the room and in the same spot he had been before he left. “How are you?” Niall asked him, “you look… awful,” he chuckled and Liam sighed.

“I’m tired and I’m tense. I’m stressed,” Liam said and Niall put his hand around his shoulder and squeezed him a bit.

“It’ll be over soon,” Niall said softy.

“I hope,” Liam’s head felt backwards and his eyes closed and Niall couldn’t help but admire how beautiful and hot at the same time he was. The way his eyes looked closed, and the stubble and his lips and his neck that he just wanted to kiss. He knew sex wasn’t a viable option now, Liam was much too tired for that but maybe Niall could still do something that’d help him feel better and help him sleep with less stress.

“I can think of something to make you feel better,” Niall spoke lowly, his hand moving from Liam’s shoulder to his hair to ran through it slowly.

“Yeah?” Liam asked, opening his eyes and turning to look at the blonde, “please do.”

Niall didn’t answer then, just leaned forward and kissed Liam, this time with a bit more force and nibbling on his lip to ask for entrance. He turned his body so he was now fully facing Liam, his hand resting on Liam’s chest. He kept it up for a bit, just kissing him for a while before his hand made his way to the first button of Liam’s shirt. He started unbuttoning the shirt slowly until enough buttons were open to show Liam’s chest. Niall let his hand wander over the skin, scratching it slightly with his short nails and Liam let some kind of low moan escape his lips.

He kept going, letting the rest of the buttons undone until his whole shirt was now open and he let his hand rest over his stomach. They broke apart from the kiss for a couple of seconds to regain their breaths but none of them said anything, none of them opened their eyes. Liam was the one to lean forward this time, his hand making its way to Niall’s face, touching his cheek with his thumb.

Niall’s hand moved lower then, toying with the buckle of Liam’s belt but stopped when he had it opened. “Okay, yeah?” he broke apart just a tiny bit from Liam’s lips to ask, opening his eyes to look at him. Liam didn’t open his though, just nodded and mumbled a short, “yeah, okay” before he was attacking Niall’s lips again.

Niall took his time to pop up the button of Liam’s pants and pull the zipper down, and he could sense Liam’s anxiety because he was now kissing him harder and he could almost hear him breathing through his nose.

First he palmed him over his boxers, feeling how he was already half hard and Liam let out a small gasp against his lips, “please,” he mumbled and Niall nodded almost unnoticeable before his hand moved under the elastic of Liam’s underwear.

They stopped kissing for a moment, letting his breaths mix together and Niall opened his eyes to see Liam’s face, eyes closed and lips slightly parted, his chest falling and raising fast as he pulled Liam’s boxers down just enough to let his cock out of them. He kissed Liam’s jaw as he took him in his hand, slowly starting to move it up and down and Liam let out a grown from the back of his throat. He kept kissing down, despite the awkward position he was in, leaving soft kisses down the other man’s neck as he started to speed up his pace slowly, playing with the foreskin or letting his thumb circle the head.

Liam’s hand looked for Niall’s face again, bringing him up so he could kiss him again and Niall felt Liam’s cock starting to leak precum already. He leaned in even closer, pressing his lips into him harder and he applied a bit more pressure on his grip on Liam, making him growl again, this time not so quietly.

“Shh,” Niall smiled against his lips.

“Please,” Liam begged this time and Niall complied, moving his hand now faster and he saw Liam’s lips part to let out a silent moan. Niall might as well be damned if this wasn’t the hottest thing he’s ever seen in his life. And he was only giving Liam a handjob.

“C’mon,” Niall mumbled against the skin of Liam’s jaw and his eyes darted down just in time to see the muscles on Liam’s abs contracting and he hear him choke out a gasp before hot, white spurts of cum stained his hand and Liam’s own stomach. He slowed down the rhythm but still kept moving his hand through Liam’s orgasm.

He let go of Liam’s softening cock once he has done but his breath was still a bit crazy as he tried to slow it down.

“First drawer,” Liam mumbled almost intelligibly but Niall had managed to still catch it, turning to open the first drawer with his clean hand to get some tissues. He cleaned his hand and Liam’s stomach before tucking him back into his boxers and pants again. Liam’s breath was now almost back to normal. “You do know how to make me feel better,” he opened his eyes to look at Niall that was now kneeling next to him.

“Glad I could help,” Niall smiled down sweetly at him.

Liam moved then, so he was kneeling too, in front of Niall and grabbed his face in his hands and kissed him. Despite all the kissing they had just done, it seemed like Liam couldn’t get enough. Niall felt Liam’s right hand leave his face to feel it move down until he was trying to undo the button of his pants.

“No,” Niall barely broke apart to mumble against Liam’s lips and he stopped his hand with his own. He opened his eyes to see Liam opening them at the same time and frown confused.

“No?” he asked, voice rough from all the kissing.

“No,” Niall shook his head with a smile and moved Liam’s hand away from his pants, intertwining their fingers. “This was for you.”

“But-“ Liam was about to complain but Niall stopped him by kissing his lips.

“I’m fine. Really.” He smiled again and moved back.

“But-“ Liam started once again.

“We’ll have plenty of time for it, Liam,” he said, not wanting to make it seem like he didn’t want him. He _did_ want him, and how, but for now, this was okay. “You should go to sleep already, I can see how tired you are, c’mon.”

Liam sighed and nodded, moving out of the bed and looking for his shorts he used to sleep.

“I’ll call myself a taxi,” Niall said and Liam turned to look at him as if he had grown a second head.

“You’re staying,” Liam said simply, as if that had been the plan from the very beginning.

“But- Tyler-“

“Tyler will be fine,” Liam said and walked over to Niall, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “we deserve this.”

“Okay,” Niall spoke softly and nodded.

“I’ll lend you something to sleep,” Liam commented as he walked back to his wardrobe, “unless you want to sleep naked,” he turned to wiggle his eyebrows at Niall who rolled his eyes.

“Just lend me some clothes,” he chuckled and Liam shrugged.

“No harm in trying, yeah?” he chuckled too.

Niall changed into a pair of shorts and a shirt that was maybe a little big for him to sleep. Liam only wore a pair of shorts, said t-shirts made him uncomfortable to sleep with. Then they got into bed, both on their sides and facing each other.

“Thank you,” Liam mumbled softly then, his eyes closed already as he looked for Niall’s hand to hold, “you’re incredible. With me and with Tyler,” he said. Niall didn’t said anything, he felt like Liam still had something else to say. And he did, a minute later, “I love you.”

Niall smiled, he knew Liam couldn’t see him because he had his eyes closed so he squeezed his hand a bit, “I love you too.”

And after that, there was only silence until the only sound audible was their even breaths.

 

Liam was woken up by the door of his room being opened. It was still dark so even in his sleepy state, he realized it was the middle of the night. He could hear Niall’s soft snores from besides him and he suddenly panicked. Did someone just break into his house? He needed to check on Tyler right-

A sob.

What?

“Da,” a tiny voice spoke and Liam felt relieved. Not because it was Tyler who was crying, but because no one had broken into his house.

“Ty?” he turned to turn on the light on his bedside table, “what’s wrong, bean?” he asked groggily.

“Bad dream, da,” Tyler sobbed and a tear rolled down his cheek.

“Oh, baby,” he threw the covers off his body to sit on the edge of the bed, “come ‘ere,” he opened his eyes to his son and he almost threw himself at his dad. “Everything’s fine, bean, no one can hurt you, yeah? Dad’s here,” Liam lifted Tyler into his lap and put his arms around him protectively. “Wanna tell me what happened?”

Tyler shook his head against his dad’s chest and clung to his teddy bear harder.

“Okay,” Liam ran his hand up and dad his back comfortingly, “you sleep here tonight, okay? Dad will protect you.” Tyler nodded and moved from his dad’s lap to the bed.

“Ni,” Liam spoke softly as he shook his shoulder, “Ni, wake up.”

“Niall,” Tyler said too, sniffling and touched Niall’s arm.

“Mmm?” Niall opened his eyes and blinked fast at the light coming from the bedside table, “what- oh. Hi, Tyler,” he smiled sleepily at the kid.

“Budge up a bit, Tyler’s sleeping with us,” Liam explained.

“What happened?” Niall asked, his eyes dropping close again as he moved back to make room for Tyler.

“Bad dream,” the kid explained as he lied on the in the center of the bed.

“Oh, Ty,” Niall looked at him and smiled, putting a hand around him, “nothing can hurt you, you know that, right?”

Tyler shook his head and Liam finished getting into the bed and throwing the cover above them, turning the light off.

“No, da,” Tyler spoke, suddenly panicked and turned to Liam, “no light, da. Monsters coming.”

“Sh, bean, sh,” Liam hugged his son tight to him, “no monster is coming for you while I’m here. And Niall is here to protect you too, aren’t you, Ni?”

“Of course,” Niall moved closer but not that much, he didn’t want to invade their space.

“Thank you,” Tyler murmured softly, already sleepy and Niall felt the corner of his lips turning into a smile.

“Go to sleep, yeah? We’ll be here to make sure you’re okay. Do you want me to tell you a story?” Liam asked, praying he’ll say no even though he knew the chances that it happened now that he offered were almost non-existent.

“Yes, please,” Tyler murmured with a short nod.

“I’ll tell you one, can I?” Niall asked.

“’kay,” Tyler’s voice was almost inaudible.

“One day a mouse was in search of food in the forest…” Niall started. He continued with his story, he wasn’t sure where he had read it but the important thing was that he remembered it. He kept talking softly even when he thought that Tyler had fallen asleep already. But then he’d hear him chuckle lightly or comment something, like at some point, there was a character in Niall’s story called Mr. Lion, so of course Tyler had related that to his teddy and commented, “like Mr. Bear.”

By the time Niall was finishing his story, he was almost sure Tyler was long asleep. “And then, together the lion and the mouse lived forever…” he finished. He heard some shifting next to him but wasn’t able to see because of how dark it was, but suddenly a hand, Liam’s hand touched his arm in search for his hand, so Niall intertwined their fingers together. And then something he had never thought he’d hear, happened.

“’hank you, daddies…” and then Tyler was asleep, leaving Niall with his heart beating fast inside his ribcage. He felt Liam squeeze his hand. This was a kind happiness he’s never felt before, a new, different kind of happy. He moved Liam’s hand up to his lips and kissed it before he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the ending of this chapter, please be nice about it?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update time! hope you enjoy this chapter (:

“… happy birthday toooo youuuu!” everyone sang in unison and Tyler giggled happily.

“Come on, Ty, blow the candles!” Liam told him and just as he leaned over to blow, Harry stopped him.

“Wait!” he exclaimed, “have you asked for three wishes already?” he asked and Tyler shook his head, “they have to be secret so think about them in your head, then you blow the candles, yeah?”

Tyler nodded happily, taking a moment to think about his wishes, counting them with his little fingers until he was done. “Ready!” he said and leaned over the table, Liam holding him by his sides because he was sitting on his lap and he blew the candles, everyone cheering and clapping. “Cake now, da,” he turned to look at his dad with a happy smile on his face.

“Okay, okay, don’t get bossy,” Liam smiled as he let him slip out of his lap to stand up and do the cutting of the cake. “You’re officially four now!”

“Yes!” Tyler cheered, “I am big, da!”

“You’re, bean, you are,” Liam chuckled, ruffling his hair, “you will always be my little bean though,” he added and Tyler crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

“No little.”

“Okay, okay,” Liam laughed, “you’re a big boy now. Now do you want some cake or not?” He asked him and Tyler nodded quickly.

Liam couldn’t believe another year had went by already and that Tyler, his little boy, was four already. Niall and him had organized a small birthday party with his family and friends, and really, he had been super grateful for Niall because he was horrible at organizing this kind of things. Also, it was good for his family and friends to meet Niall too, he didn’t want it to be about that because it was Tyler’s birthday but he wasn’t going to tell Niall not to go either.

Everyone loved Niall. Harry knew him already, and Louis and Zayn had gotten along with him pretty well. He knew his parents and sisters had been surprised at first when he had told them he was with another man, and even though they had tried to hide their surprised faces when they first met Niall, he had noticed. But as soon as they got to know him a tiny bit better, they realized Niall was really nice and sweet. He knew he’d have no problems with his family.

They had eaten cake and Niall had helped Tyler eating so he wouldn’t make a mess or stain either his face of clothes with great success. Niall was getting the hang of how to do stuff around them, which Liam was seriously thankful for. Years ago, when Tyler was still a very small baby, he could only dream about finding someone like Niall.

It was late in the afternoon when everyone decided it was time to leave. Liam had thanked everyone for coming over and Tyler had hugged everyone goodbye before they left.

“Alright now, bean, time for dad and Niall’s present, okay?”

“More presents?” Tyler opened his eyes in an innocent, surprised expression.

“We haven’t given you our present yet, silly,” Liam laughed, “can you go get it, Niall?”

“Of course,” Niall nodded, not being able to hide his smile. Tyler was going to love his present.

“Close your eyes now, Ty, it has to be a surprise.”

“’kay!” Tyler nodded and not only did he close his eyes, he put his hands over them too.

Niall was back a moment later and nodded at Liam. “Okay now, open your eyes!”

Tyler took his hands off his eyes and opened them and his mouth opened as wide as his eyes, “really?”

“Well, you’re seeing it with your own eyes, aren’t you?” Niall chuckled.

“But-“ Tyler blinked, “bike!”

“Yes, a bike. Because now you’re a big boy and can learn how to ride one, hm?”

“Thank you, da!” Tyler exclaimed and hugged his dad, “love you,” he said.

“I love you too, bean,” Liam’s smile was the sweetest Niall’s ever seen.

“Thank you, Niall,” Tyler moved to hug him too, “love you.”

Niall turned to look at Liam with an overwhelmed face as he hugged the kid back. “Love you too, Ty. But you missed something, you know?”

“What?” Tyler let go of him to look up with a frown.

“Look,” Niall grabbed a dolphin stuffed animal that was resting in the seat of the bike and handed it to Tyler.

“Dolphin!” Tyler said happily and smiled. “Thank you! Like dolphins,” he nodded, “what his name?”

“We don’t know,” Liam shrugged, “you pick a name for it.”

Tyler thought of it for a moment before speaking, “Roger.”

“Roger?” Liam chuckled.

“Yes. His name Roger, da, don’t laugh at Roger.”

“I’m not laughing, bean, not laughing,” Liam shook his head, “why don’t you put it in your room with Mr. Bear and then we’ll go outside with your bike?”

“Yeeeees!” Tyler ran past them and into his room, coming back still running seconds later, “we go ride bike!”

It was starting to get hot outside, the beginning of the summer approaching but it was still bearable. Given that Liam lived in a quiet part of the city that allowed them to stay in the block without having to take Tyler to a park.

Tyler had almost run out the door holding his new bike, but stopped when he reached the sidewalk and frowned, looking at both Liam and Niall who were steps behind him. “How ride bike?”

Liam chuckled at his sons concerned face and put a hand on his shoulder, “that’s why we’re gonna teach you, bean.”

“’kay. Teach how ride bike.”

“You sit and start pedaling, we’ll hold you so you don’t fall, okay?”

“Thank you,” Tyler nodded happily and quickly moved to sit while Niall and Liam grabbed each side of the handle.

“Now start,” Liam nodded and Tyler moved his tiny legs to the pedals, moving them slowly. Liam and Niall walked by his side, holding him to help him.

“Da, I ride bike!” Tyler yelled happily.

“I know, bean,” Liam laughed, “you’re such a big kid now!”

“We go faster!” Tyler exclaimed and moved his legs faster, Liam and Niall having to speed up their steps. There was a small pothole in the sidewalk that made the bike sort of lost if balance and Tyler almost fell, he let out a tiny yelp but luckily for him, nothing happened because of the two men still holding the handle.

“Easy there, tiger,” Niall chuckled and looked down at Tyler who looked relieved that nothing had happened.

They kept going back and forth in the block for what it seemed like forever to Liam and Niall, but Tyler seemed so happy and like he was having so much fun they didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop, not on his birthday.

“Let’s go inside now, yeah? We need to prepare dinner, bean,” Liam said as Tyler nodded and got off his new bike.

“Stay for dinner?” Tyler asked Niall and took his hand.

“Only if you want me too,” Niall smiled, “and if your dad let’s me stay, of course.”

“Da say yes,” he nodded at him.

“You didn’t even ask him!” Niall laughed.

“My birfday, I want Niall stay,” he hugged him and Niall looked at Liam like he was overwhelmed by the love this kid have for him. Liam didn’t say anything, he only smiled at them sweetly.

“I’ll stay then, Ty.”

“Yeeeees!” Tyler cheered and they all went inside.

*

“We have sleepover?” Tyler asked over dinner for like the tenth time.

“Yes, Tyler, we’re staying here for the night, you’ve already asked that.”

“We watch movie?”

“Well, I don’t know about that, but we can still have fun, can’t we?” Niall smiled at him over a fork of food.

“We watch Nemo, Ni.”

“You should ask your dad if he wants to watch Nemo too.”

“Da, we watch Nemo?” Tyler turned to his father.

“We watched Nemo last weekend, Ty, again?”

“Ni knows words!”

“Hey, I know the words too!” Liam tried to sound offended.

“But want watch with Ni,” Tyler pouted at his dad and Liam sighed.

“Okay, we can watch it. _Again._ ” Liam said trying not to sound too mad at it.

They were over at Niall’s flat, which wasn’t very big but it was okay. Liam had been there before but Niall wanted Tyler to know it too, given that as smooth as their relationship was going so far, they’ll spend a bit of time there too, he didn’t want to be over at Liam’s all the time, he felt like he was intruding there somehow. And also, it was good to let them know a bit more about himself. Even if he didn’t have that much stuff in there, but pictures of his family and friends from back home. Tyler had even asked when he saw the pictures in a shelf.

When they were done with their food and Tyler had helped doing the dishes, they all decided to change into more comfortable clothes, which meant joggers for the boys and pajamas for Tyler.

“Tyler, stay still, I can’t- what’s up with you today, God,” Liam huffed as he tried to put the shirt of Tyler’s pajamas over his head. The kid wouldn’t stop moving and it was getting on his nerves. “Tyler!” he yelled.

“Sorry, da,” Tyler mumbled and stayed still.

“I’m sorry I yelled, bean,” Liam pressed a kiss to his forehead when he finished putting on the clothes for him, “you’re all ready now.”

“Can go out with Ni?”

“We go, yeah,” Liam nodded. He had already changed his clothes, so he took Tyler’s hand in his as they walked out of Niall’s bedroom.

“Look, Ni! I am Batman!” Tyler yelled excited and let go of his dad’s hand to run towards Niall.

“Those are some great pajamas, huh?” Niall chuckled.

“Yes, grandma give me for birfday,” Tyler noded, “I am Batman!”

“So you’re Batman…” Niall trailed off, “can you fly?”

“No fly, silly Ni,” Tyler giggled.

“Oh, so you can’t fly…” Niall squinted his eyes at the kid with a smirk before he scooped him in his eyes, Tyler giving a tiny yelp in surprise. Niall made sure Tyler was secure enough in his arms before he made a full turn then started walking around the living room. “Now you’re flying!”

Tyler laughed and giggled and cheered happily until he realized something. “Ni, down,” he told him and Niall immediately stopped, putting down the kid.

“What’s up, Ty?” he asked him confused.

“Batman no fly!” Tyler explained and laughed.

“Ooooh,” Niall nodded, “you’re right, oops,” Niall covered his face faking embarrassment, “my bad, Tyler.”

“Silly Ni,” he giggled but hugged him and the blonde hugged him back.

“He’s very smart, let me tell you,” Niall told Liam who was leaning over a wall a few meters away from them with a small smile and a look on his face that Niall could only describe as fondness.

“I know,” Liam said softly, smiling big, his eyes crinkling.

 

They started watching Nemo a bit too late apparently, because by the time the movie ended Tyler had fallen asleep on top of Niall’s arm. Liam had turned off the DVD and Niall had to wake up the kid.

“Hey, Ty? C’mon, it’s time for bed,” he shook him softly.

“No want no leave,” Tyler mumbled, tightening his grip on Niall’s arm.

“I’ll go with you, yeah?”

There was a moment of silence until Tyler decided to nod, “’kay,” he yawned and Niall smiled.

“C’mon, Batman,” Niall helped him up but Tyler wasn’t cooperating.

“I’ll carry him,” Liam stepped up but Niall shook his head.

“I can do it,” he smiled, scooping the kid up and resting him on his hip, his head resting on his shoulder, “see?” Liam smiled and Niall walked towards his room.

Niall made sure to be gentle when he let Tyler in the bed and covered him with the blankets, hesitating about it for a moment before he leaned over and pressing his lips to his forehead slightly, “night night, boo.”

He moved away from the bed when a voice startled him, making him jump up, “you forgot this,” Liam’s voice said.

Niall turned to look at him with a hand over his heart and saw Liam handing Tyler’s teddy bear to him with a smile.

“Oh,” Niall blinked and paused, moving his hand away from his chest to grab the bear, “thanks,” he smiled and he put it next to Tyler under the blanket, the kid grabbing it even while asleep.

“C’mon,” Liam offered his hand to Niall and they walked out of the room, turning the light off and closing the door behind them.

They walked the few meters to the living room in silence, where Liam stopped when he reached the sofa and he turned around, suddenly letting go of Niall’s hand to hug him tight.

“Liam?” Niall asked confused but still wrapped his arms around him.

“You don’t know how thankful I am for you,” Liam whispered and squeezed him even tighter if that was possible.

“What for?” Niall asked, he had an idea, sure, but it’d still be nice to hear it.

Liam moved away with a smile and sat, Niall following him and sitting right next to him. Liam’s hand immediately looking for the blonde’s one. “You’re just so good to us,” Liam smiled sweetly, “you’re so nice to me but also to Tyler and that is the only thing I’ve ever wanted, someone that’d respect and love my child as much as I do. I was so worried I’ll never meet someone until Tyler was grown up and that I’ll have to raise him on my own,” Liam sighed and rested his head on Niall’s shoulder.

“I’m happy you think I’m doing good,” Niall smiled down at him and squeezed his hand, “but you know I… well, now that we’re talking about it, can I say something?”

“’course you can.”

“Well, I’m a bit… I don’t know I’m feeling a lot of stuff and I don’t know where to begin,” Niall let out a short laugh, “like I’m happy you’re letting me do this because I really have feelings for you and because I love Tyler and I’m glad he loves me too. And you too, of course,” he chuckled, “and I’m glad the three of us are taking it fine. But I’m… I don’t know, a bit worried? Scared? Like this is all happening so fast and I never even imagined I’d do something like this. I don’t regret it for a second, Liam, don’t you even think that’s how I feel, it’s just a bit… overwhelming, I guess.”

There was a short moment of silence between the two of them in which Liam thought what he should say before speaking up, “you know you can walk away if you want to, right? I’m not holding you up,” he spoke softly and squeezed Niall’s hand gently in hopes he actually understand what he meant. He didn’t like to think about it, but he was scared Niall could walk away.

“I’m not walking away,” Niall answered simply, “I couldn’t do that to you. Or Tyler.” He shrugged and Liam’s head moved with his shoulder, “I wouldn’t change this for the world, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a bit overwhelming. I’ll come to terms with it as fast as I can, I promise you. I’m just scared that one day something happens between us and we break up and we’ll leave him somehow scarred. Because that’s what worries me the most. We can deal with a break up, but him? He doesn’t understand that, you know what I mean?”

“Yeah…” Liam sighed and lifted his head, “I was going to say something like I’m not planning on leaving you anytime soon and that I expect that you don’t either but… I know what it is to have your life all planned out and then having it all turned in a matter of seconds, don’t I?” Liam smiled slightly, “I really hope none of what you said happens but I know it’s a real possibility.”

“That’s what I’m saying. But hey, don’t beat yourself over it, Tyler’s a great kid.”

“I know… he better be I gave up my youth for him,” Liam chuckled sadly.

“Life will reward you later, you know that.” Niall put now his head on Liam’s shoulder, “can I, you know… ask what happened to Tyler’s mum?” he asked shyly and Liam sighed.

“I wish I knew,” Liam laughed sarcastically and Niall frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly that. I don’t know. One day she was just gone.” Liam explained, “Tyler was around a year old. I remember waking up one morning and she was gone. All her things were gone. No note or anything, she left nothing behind. I remember trying to reach her on her phone, her parents but nothing. All of them just disappeared from the face of earth,” Liam continued, “I went to the police, they started looking for her, for her family and nothing. Literally nothing, no one could find her. I was terrified, my girlfriend for years had disappeared and I was left with a baby,” Niall was rubbing soothing circles on his hand and not saying anything yet, “eventually they stopped looking, said they wouldn’t find her. We all came to the conclusion she ran away. Probably out of the country. Out of the fucking continent probably.”

“You did a great job on your own,” Niall said the only thing that came to his mind. Probably not much but…

“Thank you,” Liam smiled and kissed the top of the blonde’s head.

“Why do you think she left?”

“She had this delusions of greatness,” Liam rolled his eyes, “but I seriously never thought she’ll do something about it, not like this. I was so angry, like- so fucking angry,” his voice was a bit rough but also sad, “but I’m way past that now, you know? And I’ve got you,” Liam said softly.

“Would you like her to come back?” Niall asked in almost a whisper, like he was afraid of the question. He didn’t look at Liam either.

“No.” Liam replied firmly, “she can stay far away from me and my son.”

Niall didn’t reply, instead, he kept his head on Liam’s shoulder and kept rubbing circles in his hand. He didn’t have anything to say that was comforting. And Liam didn’t need any comfort anymore. He was surprised at how well Liam had managed to maintain his life after what happened. It made him fall for him a bit more.

He remembered there was something he had meant to ask since Tyler’s birthday but completely forgot about it, so he’ll do it now. He raised his head from its place and smiled at Liam to show him the topic was over. “Can I ask one more question?”

“Um… sure,” Liam shrugged.

“What did your parents think of me? I’ve been dying to know since I met them at Tyler’s birthday.”

“They like you very much,” Liam smiled his crinkly eyed smile, “they were a bit confused when I first told them about you but they’re okay. They like you, they are happy I’m happy and that you and Tyler get along so well.”

“Good,” Niall let out a relieved sigh and Liam laughed, kissing his cheek.

“You thought they wouldn’t like you? Who wouldn’t like you?”

“A guy can be worried about meeting his boyfriend’s parents. Let me be, Liam.”

“Do your parents know about me?” Liam asked curiously. Niall had never mentioned anything to him about it.

“Yeah, of course,” Niall nodded, “they want to meet you and Tyler. Shame they are so far away.”

“Maybe we can save some money, go on a trip and visit them someday. Tyler never traveled by plane.”

“He’s three, Liam,” Niall laughed, “he won’t even remember when he’s old. He has plenty of time to travel in planes. It isn’t even that great.”

“I know,” Liam chuckled, “but I’m serious, maybe we’ll go there someday. You miss it there, don’t you?”

“Yeah… but I love it here too so…” he shrugged.

“And I’m here, so…” Liam wiggled his eyebrows.

“More of a reason to stay,” Niall laughed as he leaned over to kiss Liam.

Niall had meant to pull away from the kiss but Liam chased his lips, kissing him sweetly for a while. “Love you,” he whispered against his lips when he broke the kiss and Niall smiled.

“Love you too.”

“We should go to bed now,” Liam sighed.

“Is that an indecent proposal?” Niall raised an eyebrow and smirked but laughed.

“It would if my son wasn’t in the next room,” Liam laughed too.

“Alright,” Niall nodded, “I’ll sleep here, you sleep in the room with Tyler.”

“We can both sleep there, you know Tyler will just cuddle up to me and he’ll occupy only a bit of space.”

“It’s fine,” Niall shook his head, “don’t want to bomb him with information yet. I’ll sleep here.”

“But will you be comfortable? Don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“The sofa turns into a bed, I’ll be fine.”

“Okay then, I’ll see you in the morning, okay?” Liam leaned over and kissed him again.

“Good night, Liam.”

“Night, Ni,” he smiled and stood up, walking to the bedroom and getting into bed with Tyler.

 

“Da?” a voice woke Liam up slightly.

“Hm?” he asked, turning to face the voice and attempting to open his eyes and blinking because of the light filtering through the window’s curtains.

“Da, where Ni?” Tyler’s sleepy voice asked and Liam focused on his face.

“He’s sleeping in the living room, bean. It’s early, go back to sleep,” Liam spoke groggily and buried his face in his pillow.

“Da?” Tyler asked again but he had no answer this time.

Minutes later found Tyler in the living room, getting into the bed Niall was sleeping in the living room.

“Ni?” he asked once he was sitting next to him. No answer. “Ni?” he tried again.

“What…?” Niall blinked his eyes open slowly and saw Tyler. “Ty? What are you doing here?” he moved to sit on the bed, “Do you need something?”

“Why Ni no sleep with da and I?” he asked.

“Because you were sleeping there so I slept here,” Niall rubbed his eyes, “c’mon, I’ll take you to bed again,” Niall attempted to get up.

“No,” Tyler shook his head, “I sleep with Ni.”

“Don’t you want to sleep with your dad?”

“I sleep with Ni,” he said again.

“Okay,” Niall sighed, too tired to even argue with him and getting under the covers again, “come here,” he stretched his arms towards him and Tyler obeyed, cuddling into Niall’s arms before they both were back to sleep.

 

Liam woke up hours later and stretched his limbs without even opening his eyes and cuddled back to his pillow. It smelled like Niall. Actually, everything smelled like him on the bed. He smiled happily. He noticed that there was no tiny body clinging to him or cuddling to his side and he frowned. He turned and opened his eyes to found nothing but Mr. Bear next to him. Maybe Tyler was up already? He counted up to three before he got up from the bed, not really wanting to but he did want to know where his son was. He walked out of the room and into the living room to find the sweetest scene ever.

Tyler was curled up next to Niall in the bed, the blonde’s arm around Tyler whose head was hiding under Niall’s chin. He walked closer to them and smiled at the sight, Tyler’s cheeks were slightly pink and both their hairs were a mess. He needed to take a picture of this moment. He went back to the room to grab his phone, opening the camera app on his way back and took a picture of them. They were the cutest thing ever. He decided he’ll wake them up later with breakfast.

He rummaged around Niall’s kitchen until he found the mugs to serve the coffee (he didn’t know where everything was yet) and found some cocoa powder on his way, he’ll give that to Tyler. He made some toasts to eat too. When everything was ready, he spent more time that’d like to admit looking for a tray, where he put all three mugs, the toasts, and some butter and jam he found on the fridge. He looked at the clock on the wall on his way out of the kitchen. Ten thirty.

“Wakey wakey,” Liam sing songed softly as he entered the living room, leaving the tray in the small coffee table. None of them even flinched. He rolled his eyes fondly and moved closer, running a hand through Niall’s hair, “morning sunshine,” he spoke again and Niall moved, rolling a bit and opening his eyes slowly.

“Hmm?” he asked confused, “oh,” he smiled at the sight of Liam, “morning,” he said, smile deep with sleep.

“I made breakfast,” Liam smiled, “let’s wake him,” he nodded in Tyler’s direction and Niall nodded, moving so he was sitting.

Liam now ran a hand through his son’s hair and spoke, “wakey wakey, bean, it’s time to get up!”

“Nooo,” Tyler whined, trying to cuddle closer to Niall but found no one. He frowned even with his eyes closer and pouted. He opened his eyes then and Niall smiled down at him.

“Morning, boo,” Niall said as he ran a hand through his own hair, trying to sort it out. Liam smiled at him and the cute nickname he had found for his kid.

“Why did you come here to sleep?” Liam asked as he turned to grab the tray from the coffee table.

“Wanted sleep with Ni too,” Tyler explained as he sat on the bed. “Why Ni no sleep in bed?”

“Because then you’ll have no space for you, silly,” Niall laughed and poked his tummy and Tyler giggled.

“Here,” Liam handed a mug of coffee to Niall.

“Thanks,” Niall smiled, pecking Liam’s lips slightly.

“Ew, no kissy face, da and Ni!” Tyler stuck his tongue out in disgust.

“Sorry,” Niall chuckled and Liam laughed.

“Here, bean,” Liam handed Tyler a cup with hot chocolate.

“Thank you, da.”

“Be careful not to spill it on the sheets, okay?” Liam warned and Tyler nodded. “I found cocoa powder on your kitchen, hope you don’t mind I used it,” he said to Niall.

“’course not,” Niall shook his head over a sip of his coffee, “I bought it for him.”

“Thanks,” Liam smiled. “Now, who wants some toast?” Liam asked and Tyler was the first to answer.

*

But even relationships that are on top of the world can stumble sometimes.

“Hey, I’m gonna head home,” Niall appeared on the threshold of Liam’s door room to announce.

“Now?” Liam turned to look at him with a frown and a hard face.

“Yeah… why?”

Liam sighed, “I was counting on you looking after Tyler.”

“I’m having dinner with some friends, I told you earlier.”

“You did?” Liam frowned harder.

“Yeah,” Niall nodded, a bit taken aback at Liam’s attitude.

“Okay,” Liam shook his head, “just go then,” Liam made a gesture with his hand and went back to his laptop and the stack of papers next to him.

“Hey,” Niall walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, “if you really need me to stay I’ll just tell them something and-“

“No,” Liam said firmly, not even looking at Niall, “go. Don’t cancel your plans for us,” Liam made it seem like Niall was abandoning them.

“Liam, I-“

“I said go, Niall. I don’t have time for this, I’ve got a lot of things to do.”

Niall sighed then, he wasn’t getting any good answers from him that night. “Okay. Call me if you need anything, alright?” he kissed Liam’s cheek and turned around to leave, not goodbye or kiss from Liam.

-

“Tyler, can you please stay still, for the love of God!” Liam yelled at his kid and held him by the shoulders.

“S- sorry, da,” Tyler looked at him with fear in his eyes.

“Why don’t you let me do it?” Niall asked carefully, stepping forward.

“Ugh,” Liam groaned and stepped away, walking out of Tyler’s room.

“Da angry with me?” Tyler asked softly as Niall finished adjusting Tyler’s clothes.

“Your dad’s having a bad day so we need to be patient with him, okay?”

“Why da angry?”

“I wish I knew,” Niall sighed as they walked out of the room hand in hand.

 

They had gone to the park for a bit, Tyler could already ride his bike on his own for a while now. He had been going around in circles while Liam and Niall sat on a bench, not even talking. Niall could feel the tension coming from Liam and didn’t know what to ask or how to even do it. Lately, it seemed like all Liam did was be in a bad mood and yell or sigh in annoyance at everyone, even Tyler and him.

“Hey, you know, I-“ Niall finally started talking when they heard a sound and a cry from behind them. They turned around to find Tyler on the floor grabbing his knee and crying, the bike lying next to him.

“Tyler!” Liam exclaimed suddenly and stood up, “told you he wasn’t ready to do it alone,” he huffed to Niall under his breath.

“It’s just a scratch, Liam, kids need to go through this.”

“Not mine,” Liam said, speeding his pace until he reached Tyler, “let me see,” Liam kneeled next to him.

“No want da,” Tyler sobbed.

“What?” Liam asked, “let me see.”

“No. Want Ni,” Tyler cried.

“What’s wrong, boo? It’s nothing, alright?” Niall kneeled next to him too and Tyler let him see. “It’s only a small scratch, we’ll go home and put something on it and then it’ll be like nothing happened.” Niall noticed Liam roll his eyes and stood up.

“We’re going home,” Liam stated with a hard voice and started to walk away.

“Let’s go. We’ll get you better when we’re home.”

 

The walk back to Liam’s house was more than uncomfortable, Liam walked a few meters ahead of Niall and Tyler and not even once did he turn to look at them. By the time they reached the house, Tyler was singing along to some song he had learned at school and Niall was singing along.

“Can you two just stop that?” Liam turned harshly to them, “my head’s killing me.”

Niall closed the door behind them and saw Liam going straight to the bathroom and Niall just pulled on his pants leg. He looked down and saw him on the verge of tears. Oh no.

“Da no love me no more,” he sobbed and hugged his leg.

“Oh no, boo,” Niall said and scooped him up in his arms. He was getting too big for that already but the situation deserved it. “That’s not it at all, your dad loves you very much.” He said and Tyler shook his head no against his shoulder.

“Why da no love me no more?” he cried and the tears started to fall furiously down his cheeks. That is the worst thought a kid can have and Niall wouldn’t allow it.

Niall walked the few steps to the sofa and sat down, settling Tyler on his lap and hugging him tight, “that is not true. Your dad loves you, Ty, he’s just very tired lately. But never, _never_ , you hear me? Never think he doesn’t love you. He loves you more than anything, okay?”

Tyler kept crying for a few more minutes until he calmed down, only some hiccups escaping his lips, “’kay,” he nodded.

“Alright,” Niall pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead and he moved it to the side so he was now sitting on the sofa. “I’m gonna go talk to your dad, okay? You can watch some cartoons meanwhile,” he turned on the TV and putting the cartoons on, “I’ll be right back, Ty.”

Tyler nodded and watched the TV, and he knew he shouldn’t have left him there but he needed to talk to Liam right now. He was about to knock on the bathrooms door just when it opened.

“Move-“ Liam started but Niall put a hand on his chest to stop him.

“Get in there.”

“Niall, I need to-“

“I said, get the fuck _in_ there,” Niall hissed. It was now his turn to be harsh.

Niall closed the door behind him and Liam closed his arms over his chest and looked at him with irritation.

“Listen,” Niall closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and point finger for a second, “whatever the fuck is going on, you can’t take it out on your son, okay? He’s fucking _four,_ Liam.”

“I seriously don’t have the time to deal with this,” Liam said, uncrossing his arms and stepping forward to get out of the room but Niall stopped him.

“Liam… please,” he started, this time with a softer tone, “what’s been going on? You’ve completely shut me out. You’ve been yelling at your kid, for God’s sake!”

“Yeah, well, maybe I am fucking tired!” Liam yelled at him and Niall looked taken aback, it was the first time he heard Liam talk like that, “I am stressed and I’ve got a shit load of things to do and maybe I can’t find the balance between that and raising my fucking son, okay? It’s not easy for me.”

“Liam, I know-“ Niall started, he wanted to calm him down but Liam kept on talking.

“No! You don’t get to tell me shit! You don’t know what it’s like! You think you know because you work with twenty kids everyday but let me tell you, you don’t know!” Liam spat.

“Is that it?” Niall murmured and looked down, “is it about me? You want me to walk away?”

“What?” Liam’s face scrunched up in confusion like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “No, I-“ Liam groaned in annoyance, “look, I’ve got stuff to do, okay? Can we talk about this later?”

“Okay,” Niall nodded and Liam opened the door. “Don’t come out to see us until you’re back on your right mind again.”

Liam didn’t say anything, didn’t even look at him and Niall stood in the bathroom for a few more moments until he heard the door to Liam’s room was closed. He let out a long sigh before he walked out.

“Da angry with Ni?” Ty asked him with big, worried eyes once he sat next to him.

“Yeah… your dad is angry but we’ll be fine, boo.” At least that’s what he thought. He knew that he’ll do everything on his hand to make it right for them again. “Let’s just watch some telly, yeah?”

 

Tyler fell asleep before Liam even showed his face out of his room.

-

“This fucking- _shit!_ ” Liam yelled furiously and Niall heard the sound of a lot of things falling to the floor in the kitchen from the living room.

“I’ll go check on your dad real quick, okay Ty?” He said and Tyler nodded.

Niall walked silently into the kitchen and saw Liam lifting everything from the floor and cursing under his breath. He didn’t even notice Niall. He waited until Liam was done organizing his kitchen before he walked over, pulled his arm until he turned around and he hugged him. And tight.

“Niall, what the-“

“I don’t know what’s going on with you but I want you to know that I love you and I’m here to support you,” Niall spoke softly, he thought that if he used a calm tone of voice maybe it’ll help Liam calm down.

“Niall, I-“ Liam started, his arms both hanging on every side of his own body.

“Please, hug me back,” Niall whispered and Liam did.

Niall smiled to himself when he felt Liam’s arms wrapping around him and he hugged him even tighter, hiding his face in the crook of his neck. “You can talk to me, you know? About anything.”

The blonde didn’t loosen the tight grip on Liam’s body until he felt him relax moments later and he pressed a kiss to his neck before he pulled away slightly, “okay?” he asked with a reassuring smile.

“Okay,” Liam breathed out, “thank you,” he pressed a kiss to Niall’s forehead. “And I’m sorry. There’s only one week until my boss announce who will be promoted and I’ve been out of my mind because now everyone knows and it’s a jungle in there.”

“Why didn’t you talk to me?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t even think about it. I couldn’t even think about anything. And I’ve been treating Tyler so awfully, God…”

“Hey, he loves you no matter what, you know he does. And he misses you.”

“I know. I miss him too. I’m such a piece of-“

“No, you’re not,” Niall put a finger to his mouth, “I say you take the rest of the day off for today and spend it with Tyler.”

“And you.” Liam smiled squeezing Niall’s sides, making him squirm.

“Of course,” Niall smiled and pressed a kiss to the other man’s lips.

“Thank you,” Liam rested his forehead against Niall’s and closed his eyes, “you always know what to say and do to make me feel better.”

“Always here to help,” Niall smiled. “I say we should come back, Tyler’s been out there alone long enough.”

“Okay,” Liam nodded, pulling away and taking Niall’s hand in his before they walked out of the kitchen. “Hello, bean,” Liam smiled at his kid as he sat down next to him.

“Hi, da,” Tyler smiled at him, “da no angry no more?”

“Not angry anymore,” Liam smiled, “I’m sorry I yelled at you so much lately. I love you very, very much.”

“Love you too, da,” Tyler smiled and threw himself to his dad’s arms.

Niall looked at them with a smile on his face from the other side of the sofa and Liam smiled at him and mouthed a ‘thank you’.

*

It was Friday and Niall was helping Tyler putting his toys away in a box when they heard Liam yell.

“Yesssss!” Liam’s voice came all the way from his room. Niall frowned confused at this. He went to stand up so he could walk over to Liam’s room when he heard a loud thump and his eyes went wide. What the hell? Liam walked into Tyler’s room stumbling over something but with the biggest smile he’s ever see on his face.

“I did it!” Liam exclaimed, “I did it! I got it!” Liam seemed a bit out of breath.

“Liam, calm down, what did you get? What’s happening?”

“I got it, Ni, I got the job!” Liam exclaimed, running to Niall to hug him tight.

Niall laughed a carefree, happy laugh as he hugged Liam back tightly. He had no doubts that Liam would get this position, he had been working so hard that it was only understandable.

“What happen?” Tyler asked confused, standing next to them.

“I got a promotion!” Liam exclaimed and lifted Tyler in his arms, spinning him around and making him laugh.

“What promotion?” Tyler asked once his dad once he had put him down.

“It means he got a new, better job,” Niall explained to him.

“That good?” Tyler asked innocently, he was still too young to understand such things.

“Very good, bean!” Liam exclaimed with a smile.

“Oh, sh-“ Niall stopped himself when he watched the clock, “look at the time! Your uncles will be here to pick you up to go to the movies any time soon!”

Harry, Louis and Zayn decided they wanted to take his favorite nephew out to see a movie, and of course Liam had allowed them when he saw how happy and excited about it Tyler was. So they changed Tyler into fresh clothes and were done just in time when the bell rang. Tyler ran to the door and opened it to reveal Liam’s three friends.

“Hi, uncles!” Tyler greeted them with a big smile

“Hello there, buddy,” Louis smiled at him.  

“Do you have everything ready?” Harry asked him and Tyler nodded.

“Do you need me to give you some money to pay for him?” Liam asked them and Harry shook his head, dismissing him with his hand.

“Hello to you too,” Louis chuckled.

“Sorry,” Liam smiled, “hey, guys.”

“You seem unusually happy today,” Zayn commented.

“He just got a promotion at his job,” Niall smiled, coming to stand next to Liam.

“You did?” Harry laughed, “that’s great, mate, congratulations!” he gave him a hug.

Louis and Zayn hugged him too, congratulating him on his new position before Harry interrupted, “we should go now or we’ll be late for the movie, c’mon guys.”

Liam made sure Tyler was all ready once more before they said goodbye and the door closed, leaving Liam and Niall alone.

“I think it came very handy that they decided to take him to the movies today,” Niall smirked, wrapping his arms around Liam’s waist and getting them under the shirt he was wearing.

“Yeah?” Liam asked with a matching smirk, “why? Did you have any plans in mind?”

“Not really…” Niall spoke against his ear, “but I was thinking we could celebrate your achievement, what do you think?”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Liam answered, voice already an octave lower.

Niall leaned in to kiss him, slowly first but getting more passionate by the second. His hands were going up and down Liam’s sides under his shirt, touching his skin which seemed to get hotter and hotter. He started pushing him slightly towards the sofa without breaking the kiss. He pushed him that bit harder once he felt Liam’s legs had touched the edge of it. Liam fell on the sofa, his back against the back of it and Niall sat on his lap, taking Liam’s face into his hands and joining their lips together again. Niall started rocking his hips against Liam’s, slowly at first until Liam was grinding back against him.

The blonde started playing with the hem of Liam’s shirt as he kissed down his jaw line and his neck. Niall felt Liam starting to get anxious as his hands were clumsily trying to open his pants and take his shirt at the same time, and he chuckled against the skin of his neck.

“Eager, aren’t we, _boss_?” Niall made sure to emphasize that last word as he spoke near Liam’s ear and the other man groaned. He took that as chance to slip Liam’s shirt up his body and over his head, throwing it behind him somewhere. He let Liam take his shirt off next and then he started kissing his way down Liam’s chest and stomach while Liam’s hands roamed around his body. He slipped off his lap so he was now kneeling on the floor in between Liam’s legs. He looked up at him with a smirk, pupils blown as he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, taking what seemed forever to Liam to slide them off his legs.

Niall leaned over to place soft kisses on his lower stomach to tease him, hearing Liam’s breathing speeding up. He finally got to pull the elastic of Liam’s boxers and Liam lifted his hips automatically, making Niall chuckle, but he only tugged them down just enough to let his dick out. Niall took him in his hand and pumped him slowly for a few moments first, watching Liam’s reaction.

Liam had his head thrown back, eyes closed and lips slightly parted and letting out quick breaths. His chest was rising and falling fast and his hands were resting besides his body in closed fists.

The blonde started by licking a long stripe from the base to the tip a few times before he wrapped his lips around the head and swirled his tongue, making Liam groan in response. He slowly started to take more of him into his mouth, hollowing his cheeks and his hand taking what he couldn’t fit. He started to bob his head up and down faster and Liam’s hand flew to his hair, pulling it which made Niall moan around him, getting a low sound in response from Liam.

“So good, you’re s- so good, Ni,” Liam had trouble speaking with how hard he was breathing.

Niall used one of his hands to hold himself on one hand of the sofa and the other one to play with Liam’s balls. He could feel Liam get close to his orgasm because of the way his dick pulsed, the grip on his hair getting tighter and the muscles of his lower stomach getting more and more tense by the minute.

“Ni, I-“ Liam cut himself with a moan and Niall got the message pretty quick, humming around him and sucking harder and that made it for Liam, his hips snapping forward and his grip on Niall’s hair almost unbearable for the blonde. A sound like a mix of a groan and a moan escaped his lips before he started to calm down.

Niall let go of him, and licked his lips, cleaning his mouth and chin with the back of his hand. He moved again to straddle Liam and kissed him, but Liam’s breath was still rushed and couldn’t keep up.

“God, I love you…” Liam murmured against his lips and Niall smiled.

“Good.”

“Now you,” Liam used all the strength he had left to push Niall until he was lying on the sofa, his head against the armrest. Liam was now the one to be on top and took one second to pull his boxers up again, both of his knees now on each side of Niall’s body. He leaned over and kissed him but took no time to tease, going straight for his pants and pulling them down so quick that he could’ve ripped them apart.

He took Niall’s dick in his hand and started pumping him slow. He kissed his way down Niall’s neck and sucked on his collarbone, leaving a pink mark that he was sure will look like a lovebite later. He smirked to himself at that.

He was suddenly interrupted by his phone ringing and stopped altogether, giving Niall a chance to catch his breath.

“You gonna answer that?” Niall’s voice came out rough.

“No way,” Liam answered, ignoring his phone and getting back to kiss on Niall’s neck.

His phone eventually stopped ringing and Liam let out a breath in relief that made Niall chuckled. He kept making his way down until Niall stopped him by putting a hand on his bicep. “Want you up here,” he said, eyes closed and cheeks pink.

Liam made his way up again, nibbling on Niall’s bottom lip, “you sure?” he asked and Niall nodded with a gasp. Liam applied a bit more pressure and started pumping him faster. Liam pressed his lips to Niall and kissed him like it was the last thing he’ll do. Niall had wrapped his arms around Liam’s neck and was playing with the short head on the back of his head. His hips were moving in sync with Liam’s hand and he could feel that heat starting to pull on his lower abdomen. His breath started to falter, no longer kissing Liam but just breathing against his lips.

Niall felt his orgasm take over moments later, letting out a long moan, his back arching slightly. Liam slowed the movement of his hand to a stop when Niall was done and kissed his lips sweetly, without deepening it.

“Mm, you’re so good,” Niall breathed out and smiled, blinking his eyes open.

“So were you,” Liam smiled, moving to let Niall fix his clothes again. Liam cleaned his hand on his own shirt and Niall frowned his eyebrows at him. “I have to wash it anyway,” he shrugged and laid down on the sofa next to him, Niall moving around to make enough space for him.

Liam was on his back and Niall on his side, with his back against the back of the sofa, his head resting on Liam’s chest.

“We need more time for us,” Liam mumbled, wrapping his arm around Niall’s body.

“Yeah… we’ll work it out,” he kissed Liam’s chest.

They fell into a comfortable silence until Liam stretched his arm to grab his phone from the coffee table and almost falling off the sofa, “I wonder who called before,” he spoke to himself as he unlocked the screen. “My mum called,” he frowned and then sighed, “I should call her back or she’ll freak out.”

“Call her then, tell her I say hi,” Niall smiled up at him.

Liam pressed the call button and heard the line beeping a couple of times until his mum answered.

“Oh, hey mum- no, I’m sorry, I didn’t have my phone with me and didn’t hear you call,” Niall heard Liam explaining and rolling his eyes. He chuckled. “Yes, Niall is right here with me, he says hi too,” Liam moved the speaker of his phone away from his mouth, “mum says hi,” he said to Niall.

Niall snuggled closer to Liam’s body and closed his eyes, listening to Liam speaking to his mother. A few minutes later, Liam said goodbye to his mum, hanging up and putting his phone in the small table again.

“Good news,” Liam said and Niall could almost see the smile on Liam’s face.

“What’s up?” he asked, opening his eyes and looking up to see that Liam was, in fact, smiling.

“Mum wants to take Tyler with them for the weekend,” he explained, “the next one, of course.”

“Oh. What did you say?”

“I said of course, weren’t you listening?” Liam chuckled.

“No, I was too comfy,” Niall laughed. “So we get a weekend just for us?”

“Yeah… that was actually what she said, she wants me to have some time with you and my friends. Bless her.”

“Your mum’s great, I love her,” Niall laughed.

“Me too,” Liam squeezed Niall in his arms, “a whole weekend for us…” he said dreamily.

“Do you know how sad it sounds that we’re happy for having two days alone? _Two,_ ” Niall chuckled.

“Well, it is what it is, right? Can’t change my life. Wouldn’t change it either.”

“I know,” Niall smiled sweetly and moved a bit up to kiss Liam’s neck and snuggle his face there, “can’t wait ‘till next weekend though.”

“Me neither,” Liam sighed happily.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took me like a month to put this up, I've got no excuse, I was lazy and then exams came around and I'm just sorry. This chapter is a bit longer than the rest of them, if that makes it up a bit.  
> Warning: the worst smut scene you've ever read, you've been warned omg.

“We should be leaving right now, darling,” Liam’s mum spoke to Tyler and the kid nodded. It was Friday afternoon and Liam’s mum was over at Liam’s to pick up Tyler for their weekend together.

“’kay. I say bye bye to da and Ni and we go, yes?”

“Of course, honey,” his mother laughed, “I have to say goodbye to them too.”

Liam entered the room with a small bag that contained all of his son’s things, clothes, socks, shoes and toothbrush. “You’re gonna be a good boy while you’re in there, right Ty?” Liam asked as he crouched in front of Tyler.

“Yes, da,” Tyler nodded.

“You’re going to behave and do as your grandma and grandpa say?”

“Yes, da,” Tyler nodded again.

“And you’re not going to forget to brush your teeth, right?”

“No, da,” Tyler shook his head, “I brush teeth.”

“Very good,” Liam smiled, “I’ll see you again on Sunday. I will miss you, bean,” Liam wrapped his arms around his son.

“Miss you too, da,” Tyler wrapped his small arms around his dad’s neck.

“Alright, alright, my turn to hug him, keep moving,” Niall chuckled as he approached them and Liam let go, stepping to the side while Niall crouched in front of Tyler, “I’ll miss you too,” he hugged him, “even more that your dad,” he said in a whisper but that was audible for everyone and Tyler giggled as Niall stuck his tongue out at Liam who just laughed.

“Miss Ni too,” Tyler said as he let go, “when come back we go ride bike, yes?”

“Of course we will,” Niall smiled.

“Did you take Mr. Bear with you?” Liam interrupted them to ask and Tyler’s eyes went big.

“No!” he gasped and ran into his room, coming back seconds later with both his bear and dolphin stuffed animals.

“You’re taking Roger too?”

“Can’t leave Roger alone, he scared!” Tyler hugged Roger close to his body.

“Of course, silly me,” Liam laughed. “Okay, you go then, bean. Have fun!”

Both Liam and Niall said goodbye to Liam’s mother before they waved Tyler goodbye from the door as the car drove away.

“So… any plans for today?” Niall asked, wrapping his arms around Liam’s middle and the older boy, wrapped his arms around him too, kissing his lips lightly.

“Not really… just staying with you. Be all over you aaaaaall the time,” he chuckled, “maybe see the lads too.”

“You know what? We should go out tonight. I haven’t gone out to a club in forever.”

Liam chuckled, “if you haven’t been in forever, what’s left for me?” he laughed, “I can’t even remember when was the last time I went out for fun,” he frowned now.

“It’s decided then, we’re going out partying.”

A slow smirk made his way to Liam’s face, “I’m gonna get wasted.”

“Well, I should say that that isn’t a good thing but I think you earned it,” Niall laughed, “I won’t let you do anything stupid.”

“I wasn’t planning on getting you off my sight. I’m gonna get drunk _and_ still be all over you,” Liam tightened his arms around the blond.

“I don’t know how that will end…” Niall spoke as he leaned in and spoke against Liam’s lips.

“Are you suggesting anything?” Liam raised an eyebrow.

“Nope,” Niall popped out the ‘p’, “not at all.”

Liam laughed, finally kissing him and this time it was a long, slow kiss. “I’ll call the lads and tell them to come have dinner with us, or would you rather tell them to come after dinner?”

“Nah, dinner is fine,” Niall nodded, “I should go home to change clothes, I can’t go clubbing with sweatpants,” he chuckled.

“You look good in everything though,” Liam nosed down the side of his face.

“Shut up,” Niall chuckled, “I’m serious.”

“I know,” Liam laughed, stepping back. “What do I even wear to go clubbing? What do guys wear these days to go clubbing?” Liam laughed and Niall rolled his eyes fondly.

“Just wear whatever, who do you have to impress anyway?”

“Uh… you? Duh.”

“Why do you have to impress me?” Niall asked confused.

“I don’t know, keeps the romance alive?” Liam laughed.

“Well, I’d rather you take all you clothes off but I mean, nice clothes are okay too,” Niall laughed.

“You perv,” Liam squinted his eyes at him and laughed, “and that’s only for you to see, not a whole club,” he made his way towards the hall to enter his bedroom.

“Mmm, lucky me,” Niall followed Liam and wrapped his arms around him from behind, placing a kiss in the back of his neck.

“C’mon, help me pick nice clothes,” Liam said, unwrapping Niall’s arms from around him.

“I thought you wanted to surprise me.”

“Uh- well, no. But now I kind of do,” Liam laughed, “get out of my room,” Liam gestured him with his hands to get out.

“Alright, alright, I’m going,” Niall laughed, “I’ll go home and be back for dinner, that okay?”

“Alright,” Liam nodded, “sucks though, I really wanted to spend like, the _whole_ we      ekend with you,” he pouted.

“It’ll only be a few hours!” Niall laughed, “I promise I’ll be back soon, it’ll only be a couple of hours.”

“Okay,” Liam nodded, “I’ll see you in a couple of hours then,” Liam walked over to him and kissed his lips.

Niall smiled before going to the front door, waving at him before he was out of the house. Liam was more than pumped for the night and the rest of the weekend.

 

Surprisingly for Liam, Niall wasn’t the first one to arrive at his house. His friends came a bit before dinner and had a debate about what food they wanted to have. Mexican and pizza where the two last options and they ended up ordering pizza, like always, because Mexican was apparently too hard for one of them to eat without staining the clothes. And pizza was always good.

Liam had picked an outfit to wear already, but then Louis and Harry had gotten into an argument about how it wasn’t the appropriate thing to wear. Louis said he needed to wear something more informal, like a t-shirt while Harry was going about a different buttoned up t-shirt. But Liam was okay with his choice, he liked plaid shirts a bit too much and Zayn had nodded at him in approval when he showed it to him, so yeah, Louis and Harry could keep arguing but they won’t get results.

“So where’s Niall?” Zayn asked him as his other two friends were still deep in conversation about clothes and Liam frowned, not really knowing where Niall was.

“I don’t know but he should be here already,” he seemed a bit nervous as he tried to put his hair up but it wasn’t cooperating and he groaned.

“Hey, easy there, mate,” Zayn chuckled, “he’ll be here any moment,” he told him, “and your hair looks good like that, leave it be.”

“Guess you’re right,” Liam sighed and stopped trying to fix his hair, instead going to grab his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call Niall,” he mumbled more to himself. He unlocked his screen and looked for Niall’s name in his contact, he was about to press the send button to call him when the bell rang and he let out a small sigh in relief.

He walked towards the door and opened it, smiling immediately at the sight of Niall, who smiled big at him too. “I thought something happened to you,” he spoke as he took a step aside to let Niall in, pecking his lips lightly before he closed the door after him.

“My neighbor- remember the old lady?” Niall started and Liam nodded, “she wasn’t feeling very good so I stayed with her until her daughter came home. Couldn’t leave her alone, could I?”

“Such a good person,” Liam smiled big at him, “is she okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, she’s okay. Her daughter said she’ll take care,” he gave a small shrug, “I brought beer, can’t really go out partying without some warm up, can’t we?” he winked, walking into the kitchen.

The pizza arrived minutes later and they sat in the sofa, leaving some music channel on the TV as a background as they ate their pizza and chatted and laughed. They haven’t even decided where they were going to go out so they all engaged into some kind of debate about the places where they’ve been lately and which one would be the best to go. Liam had only listened, feeling actually bummed that he couldn’t participate because it’s been so long since he’s been out. Their friends had finally decided for a club that was apparently not so far away from his house (but who knew, really, all their descriptions and directions were vague) and Liam didn’t mind so he nodded along when they all agreed on that place. As long as he got some time with his friends and Niall, he was more than okay. And on the inside, he was pumped that he was doing this, it was so normal for the rest of them but so refreshing for him, it got him out of his routing even if it was only for a bit.

They finished eating but didn’t leave right after they were done, they stayed a while longer, just chatting and laughing, mostly about things that had happened to them at work (especially at Liam, now that he had a new position, he had a whole lot of new experiences and things to do), and stories and memories from when they were young. Liam noticed how Niall listened attentively at all the stories they told about Liam, even if they were embarrassing, and even though he wanted to kill his friends, Niall had only laughed along and squeezed his hand or kissed his cheek in reassurance.

When they all decided it was time to leave, they called two taxis because there was no one they would all fit in just one. So it was Niall and him in one of them, and his friends in the other.

“This is gonna be great, I’m buzzing,” Liam smiled big at Niall on their way to the club.

“It’s funny how you’re so excited about something so simple,” Niall chuckled, “but I’m happy you’re happy.”

“I just haven’t been out clubbing in forever!” Liam said almost a bit too excited. He couldn’t blame it on the beer though, he hadn’t drink that much. Yet.

“I know,” Niall laughed shortly, “we’re gonna have so much fun,” he smiled, taking Liam’s hand to his mouth and kissing his knuckles.

 

The club was starting to get packed right after they got inside. They went straight for the bar and ordered a round of drinks. Liam turned to scan the place, the colored lights blinking and moving around, illuminating different people on the dance floor. The music was good, fun songs with slow beats and fast beats alternating.

They made their way into the crowd on the dance floor, staying together only for a couple of minutes before he lost sight of his friends. But not Niall, he couldn’t lose Niall because he had his arms wrapped around him. Or maybe that’s why his friends had left, to leave them alone. Either way, Liam wasn’t complaining.

“Wanna grab another drink?” Liam leaned over Niall’s ear and still had to almost scream over the music. Niall nodded and they made their way back to the bar, ordering two shots. Niall swallowed it down without much trouble, but Liam felt like his throat was on fire. He didn’t want to look like he couldn’t take it though so he didn’t say anything but he must have made some kind of grimace because Niall chuckled, leaning over to speak next to his ear and resting his hand on his chest.

“Alright?”

“Yeah. Yeah, all good,” Liam made a nonchalant gesture with his hand as if it was nothing.

“Okay,” Niall smiled, “let’s get moving,” he started dancing in his place, making Liam laugh before grabbing his hand and walking to the dance floor again.

 

A couple of hours later and possibly a bit too many drinks, found Liam pressing his body close to Niall’s against a wall, mouth latched to his neck. His arms were around his waist while Niall’s hands were grabbing onto Liam’s biceps, his eyes closed and his head tilted back, resting against the wall. They were both completely gone, Liam probably a bit more, being far too enthusiast about having a drink and then another and another and well… he was probably going to have a horrible hangover the next day. Niall had tried not to drink too much and even though he had had a couple less drinks than Liam, it had downed on him and he couldn’t really focus on anything.

“Liam!” a slurry voice came from what felt to be from afar for them because of the music and Liam lifted his head, lips shiny with spit and eyes completely unfocused as he tried to found the owner of the voice. It took him a moment to realize it was Louis who had called his name.

Niall opened his eyes when he felt Liam’s mouth pulling away and look in the direction Liam was looking to see Louis looking at them with a smirk on his face and probably not as drunk as they were.

“Seems like you’re having a great time!” he still slurred and well, maybe he was just as drunk. Liam didn’t answer, only nodded his head. “Just wanted to tell you we’re heading home soon so yeah, have fun!” he half yelled over the music before he turned around and disappeared into the mass of people.

“Should we go home too?” Niall asked, looking at Liam with half lidded eyes.

“Mmm, maybe in a bit,” Liam mumbled, leaning over to press his lips to Niall’s in a sloppy kiss.

 

“You are- so, soooo,” Liam slurred as he and Niall entered his room and fell on the bed, “soooo beautiful. And- hot, like, soooo-”

“Shut up,” Niall giggled, his cheeks turning pink, then leaning forward to kiss Liam.

Their kiss was sloppy, all tongue and teeth and hands roaming around their bodies, getting their clothes out of place. Liam hummed into the kiss, pulling apart for the blonde’s lips and starting to kiss down his jaw and neck. He sucked on the place where his neck joined his shoulder for a moment before he stopped, letting out a sigh.

“I’m so tired,” Liam mumbled.

“Me too,” Niall sighed, “maybe we should sleep.”

“But noooo,” Liam whined, lifting his face from its place in the crook of Niall’s neck, “I want you.”

Niall giggled at his words, “but I’m so-“ he suddenly hiccupped, “wanna sleep.”

“Mmm, ‘kay,” Liam nodded, “you’re comfy,” he let his whole body rest on top of Niall’s.

“You’re crushing me!” Niall laughed but quickly stopped because he couldn’t breathe.

Liam pulled apart too quickly, making his head spin and he fell right next to Niall on the bed. They stayed in that position for what seemed like forever, the two of them too tired to even move. Liam had his eyes closed and was almost asleep when he felt movement next to him.

“Let’s get into bed,” Niall’s half drunk, half sleepy voice spoke.

Liam made sure not to move too fast so he wouldn’t lose his balance and managed to successfully get on his feet. Now, getting out of his clothes was a bit more difficult. By the time he had managed to get out of his shoes and clothes he was too exhausted to look for something to wear for bed, and apparently, so was Niall who was now just sitting on the edge of the bed wearing only his boxers.

“C’mon,” Liam made his way to his side of the bed, moving the comforter and getting under it. He waited for Niall to be comfortable under the blanket before he moved closer, wrapping his arm loosely around his middle. They stayed in silence for a while before Niall whined miserably.

“What?” Liam asked half sleepy, half confused.

“The lights are still on,” Niall huffed, making Liam realize about the fact and whine too. “Turn them off?”

“Why me?” Liam complained in almost a childish voice, but when he realized Niall wasn’t going to move, he had no other choice. So he threw the blanket off his body, standing up and walking to the door and turned the light off. He turned around to make his way back to the bed when he tripped over his own shoe lying there in the middle of the room and fell to the floor. He was way too drunk for these shenanigans of turning the lights off.

“Liam?” Niall’s voice came from the bed sounding worried and surprised at the same time.

“The shoe moved! He wanted me to trip,” Liam explained as if it was the most coherent thing that could happen.

Niall, who was now sitting on the bed, blinked and stared at him lying there for a moment before he burst into laughter.

“It’s not funny!” Liam whined from the floor, “help me?”

“Sorry,” Niall said still laughing, crawling on the bed to the edge to offer a hand to Liam. “Please, don’t fall again.”

“Ha ha, as if I wanted to,” Liam huffed and got into bed, cuddling into the blankets, “you’re mean, I don’t like you.”

Niall could almost see the pout in his face even though he wasn’t looking at him, but he turned so he was lying on his side and wrapped his arms around him, so close that their noses were touching, “no, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Noooo,” Niall sing songed, “you love me.”

“Yes, I do.”

“See?” the blonde chuckled.

“Wait- I mean. Ugh, I don’t like you,” Liam huffed, playfully trying to get away from Niall’s embrace.

“Yes, you do,” Niall chuckled, not letting him move and placing a big, sloppy kiss on his cheek. “And I love you too,” he whispered.

“Good,” Liam stopped moving, “because I really, really like you.”

“You said you didn’t!” Niall giggled.

“I was lying. I love you very much.”

“Me too.”

“Now let me sleep,” Liam ordered him and wrapped his own arm around Niall’s body.

“Aye aye, captain,” Niall chuckled, placing a kiss on Liam’s chin and got more comfortable and ready for a long night of sleep. They both needed it.

*

When Liam woke up the next morning, he could barely open his eyes. His eyelids felt like they weight a million pounds and his mouth tasted like death. He forced himself to open his eyes and groaned as there was too much light in the room for his poor eyes. He turned around only to found an empty spot on the bed. He frowned, where was Niall?

“Morning,” a voice came from the door of the room and Liam turned to be met with Niall.

“Come back to bed,” he said with a raspy voice.

“It’s past noon, Li,” Niall chuckled, leaning on the doorframe.

“What?!” Liam sat up quickly, eyes wide and groaned when his head felt dizzy.

“You should take a shower and I’ll make you some coffee, yeah?”

“I’m hungry,” Liam spoke as he stood up from the bed and stretched his muscles.

“I know,” Niall chuckled, walking over towards Liam and pecking his lips lightly, “you go shower and I’ll make you some breakfast.”

“Thanks,” Liam offered him a small smile as he walked towards the drawer to look for fresh clothes while Niall walked out of the room in direction of the kitchen.

 

His head was still a bit dizzy after the shower but he felt much more awake now that he had taken one and brushed his teeth. He was probably going to feel better after having something to eat.

“Oh, hey,” Niall smiled as he put a mug on the table with coffee when he saw Liam entering the kitchen, “coffee is ready and I ran to the store to get us donuts.”

“I haven’t had a donut in forever!” Liam laughed, sitting by the table and taking a sip of his coffee and making a funny face.

“Oops, forgot to tell you it doesn’t have sugar,” Niall chuckled, “here,” he said, handing Liam the sugar.

“Thanks,” he smiled.

They spent some time in comfortable silence, just drinking their coffees, munching on their donuts and smiling at each other.

“Did you have fun last night?” Niall asked.

“Well… I don’t remember much to be honest,” Liam laughed embarrassed.

“That’s what I thought,” Niall chuckled.

“I have like just chunks of memories of last night,” he chuckled, “but most of it it’s just one blurry thing. Why did you let me drink so much?” he whined.

“Well, you had planned beforehand to get drunk so,” he shrugged one shoulder, “and I wasn’t in that much of a different position.”

“Guess not,” Liam chuckled again, finishing his coffee.

“I woke up to this though. Remember?” Niall stretched his neck and turned his head to show Liam a purple mark on his neck.

“Oh my God,” Liam whispered and scrunched up his nose, “I did that?” he leaned over the table to look.

“I don’t remember being with anyone else last night,” the blonde laughed.

“That looks… awful. I’m sorry.”

“I know, right? I’ve never seen a hickey look so fucking purple, you must have spent a good time on it but I can’t really remember.”

“Me neither… fuck, I’m sorry,” Liam laughed now.

“It’s fine. It’ll be gone soon.”

“Hopefully, I don’t want people to think I hit you or something.”

“How the hell would I get a mark in the neck though, you can’t hit me in the neck, it’s kind of obvious what it is.”

“Still though, doesn’t look pretty.”

“Nothing we can do about it now I guess,” Niall shrugged, “you done?” he asked as he stood up to put his mug and plate with crumbs in the sink.

“Yeah, here,” Liam handed his to Niall who put the items in the sink too. “I’ll call my mum to talk to Tyler and then we can cuddle in the sofa and watch some TV. Maybe we can go out on a date later? We haven’t gone on a date in forever.”

“With this weather?” Niall asked curious.

“What’s wrong with the weather?” Liam frowned in confusion.

“Have you looked out the window yet?” Niall raised an eyebrow and Liam stood there looking at him for a second before he walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, opening the curtains of the window to look outside. Niall was right, the weather was awful. The sky was dark grey and a heavy rain was falling, tapping on the surfaces of everything out on his small garden.

Liam heard Niall’s footsteps and soon a pair of arms was wrapped around his middle, a chin resting on his shoulder. “I wanted to go out,” Liam pouted and turned his head to look at Niall.

“Maybe tomorrow will be better,” Niall smiled and pressed a kiss to Liam’s lips.

“So movies and cuddles sound good? Rainy days were made for that.”

“Sounds great to me,” Niall smiled big. “Call Tyler, I wanna talk to him too.”

Liam untangled himself from Niall’s body and looked for his phone and dialed his mother’s number, waiting for a couple of rings until she answered. They chatted for a bit, she mostly told him about how good Tyler was behaving and what a sweet kid he was. A minute later Tyler was already on the phone.

“Da!” he exclaimed happily and Liam put his phone on speaker.

“Hello, bean!” Liam couldn’t help but smile at his son’s voice, “Niall’s here with me, say hi to Niall.”

“Hi, Ni!” Niall could almost see Tyler’s smiley face over the phone.

“Hey, boo! How are you doing?”

“Good. Granny make yummy food. And cookies!” he giggled over the phone.

“Oh, really?” Liam asked, “are you having a good time there?”

“Yes! Grandpa ride bike with me too!” Tyler told them very excited and babbled about how they went to a park earlier.

“I’m very happy you’re having a good time,” Liam smiled even though his son couldn’t see him, “is it raining there, Ty?”

The kid took a moment to answer and they both could hear him moving before he replied, “yes, raining,” he said and then they could hear him talking to Liam’s mum, “we watch Toy Story, granny?” and they both laughed.

“Wish we could be there to watch Toy Story with you, boo,” Niall said.

“We watch Toy Story when come home,” Tyler said. “How da and Ni?”

“We’re good,” Liam spoke, “we slept a lot, we’re going to watch a movie now too.”

“What movie?”

“We don’t know yet, we haven’t decided it.”

“Watch Lion King!” Tyler said very excited and they both laughed.

“We’ll see,” Liam answered, “we’ll let you go back to grandma and grandpa, okay? We’ll talk again later.”

“’kay, da!”

“Have fun, boo!” Niall yelled into the telephone and Tyler giggled.

“Have fun and behave, okay? Love you, bean!” Liam laughed.

“Love you too! Bye, da. Bye, Ni!”

And a moment later the call was done.

“It’s so weird not having him around,” Niall commented.

“You tell me,” Liam chuckled, “feels nice though, like- don’t want to sound like a bad parent but-“

“No, I totally understand. Everyone needs some time to themselves, Li, that doesn’t make you a bad parent at all.”

“Thanks,” Liam smiled and placed a kiss on Niall’s cheek, “now, about that movie…”

 

Despite their long discussion about what movie to watch, they ended up watching some movie Liam didn’t even remember the name but because of Niall’s words “are you kidding, how come you’ve never seen this movie? Where have you lived all this time, Liam?! It’s a classic, we’re gonna watch it now” and Liam had tried to argue, preferring to watch an action movie or a horror movie maybe, because those were his favorites and let’s be real, it was raining, the day was perfect for a horror movie. But he had no chance, Niall had already made up his mind.

“Well, this was… a very weird movie. Interesting but… weird,” Liam commented after the ending of the movie.

Niall chuckled, “it’s good, I like this one. Kind of controversial, isn’t it?” Niall turned to look at Liam. They were currently sitting on the sofa, Liam’s arm around Niall’s shoulders and one of Niall’s hands over one of Liam’s.

“I guess, yeah,” Liam shrugged a shoulder, “next time I pick the movie.”

“Hey! I’ve got great taste in movies, thank you very much, Liam,” Niall crossed his arms over his chest.

“You do, you do,” Liam laughed, “but it’s only fair.”

“I guess you’re right,” Niall nodded, putting his arms down, “how’s your head? Does it hurt?”

“Nope,” Liam popped out the ‘p’ in the word as he shook his head, “I feel okay now. You’re a great distraction for hangovers.”

Niall chuckled, “glad I could be useful.”

There is a moment of silence in which none of them moves or says anything, the credits of the movie still playing on the TV. Liam is the one to the break the silence, letting his head rest against the back of the sofa and tilted to the side to look at the blonde, “I really wanted to go out on a date today,” Liam said softly, “it’s been forever since we’ve gone out and I wanted to do something nice.”

“This is nice though,” Niall smiled, “we don’t need to go out to enjoy our time together. And I don’t know about you but I really like staying inside during rainy days, we’re out too much during the week.”

“Guess you’re right,” Liam nodded slightly, “but if the weather is better tomorrow, we’re going on a date.”

Niall rolled his eyes fondly at him, “alright. If you insist so much on it.”

“I’m trying to be romantic,” Liam pouted.

“I know,” Niall chuckled, “I don’t care where we’re going though, I just like having some time alone with you.”

“Me too,” Liam sighed, leaning over to kiss the blonde’s lips. He had intended it to be a short kiss but apparently Niall had other plans, chasing his lips and catching them on a longer kiss.

Their kiss slowly turned more passionate and they had both turned to their sides so they were facing each other without being in a weird position, Niall’s hands being one on the side of Liam’s neck and the other on his hip. Liam’s hand on the other side, were both wrapped around Niall’s waist, making the positions for his arms kind of weird but they were much too busy with other things to care.

When Liam’s hands started to tug on the hem of the blonde’s shirt, getting under it to stroke the skin on the small of his back with the tip of his fingers, Niall pulled away from Liam’s lips, slightly out of breath. “Wanna, like- move to the bedroom?” he asked breathlessly as Liam nosed the side of his neck.

“Hmm, yeah…” Liam placed a soft kiss behind his ear before pulling away and untangling his arms from around the blonde, instead taking his hand and standing up, Niall following him.

They kissed their way to the bedroom, bumping into a wall on their way, making them giggle against each other’s lips. Liam is the one that falls with his back against the bed, Niall crawling over him to kiss his way from his neck up to his lips. Liam tugs him down so their bodies are now completely touching.

As minutes pass and they kept kissing, curious hands start roaming around each other’s bodies and they start grinding their hips together. Niall makes the first move and gets Liam’s out of his shirt first, kissing down his chest and abs. He pulls away, just straddling Liam’s lap and he pushes his own shirt up his body as Liam watches him, his hands on both sides of his hips. Niall offers him a half smile, half smirk and leans down again to kiss him, his hands roaming down the older boy’s body to start playing with the elastic of Liam’s joggers. “Let’s get rid of these, yeah?” he breathes against Liam’s cheek and he moves away from Liam’s body, tugging at the pants and leaving him in only his boxers. He takes this opportunity to get rid of his own pants too as he’s kneeling on the bed.

Liam moves so he’s not lying anymore and helps Niall with his pants, putting a hand on his chest and the other on his cheek to lean over and kiss him again. “Take this off too,” he says, hooking a finger on the elastic of his boxers and Niall laughs a breathless laugh.

“Getting eager now, huh?”

Liam doesn’t respond, just makes some sort of humming approval noise and gets to the task in hand: getting rid of those annoying boxers. He takes Niall in his hand as soon as the boxers are gone and the blonde groans low in his throat. “You too,” he says, hands now eager and clumsy to get rid of Liam’s last piece of clothing.

They fall back on the bed again, Niall being the one against the mattress this time while his hands roam up and down Liam’s back, kissing him hotly, their hips moving together. Liam stifles out a moan and Niall spreads his legs so Liam’s in between them but stops, putting his hands on Liam’s hips to stop him too.

“What-“ Liam says confused.

“We should get moving,” Niall says, placing a kiss on Liam’s lips.

“Okay,” Liam nods and lets out a shaky breath that makes Niall frown.

“Alright?”

“Yeah, just… this is kind of new to me so I’m a bit nervous,” Liam smiles shyly.

“We don’t have to-“

“No!” Liam blurts out maybe too fast, “No, I want this. Want you. Just scared I’ll hurt you or fuck up, you know?”

“You won’t,” Niall smiles, hopping himself up on his elbows and kiss Liam sweetly, “have everything? Lube? Condoms?” he asks and Liam nods. “Alright then, I promise to let you know if it doesn’t feel right.”

“Okay,” Liam mumbles, probably more to himself than for Niall before he moves a way for moment to gather the lube and condoms before he’s back. “How do you want to do this? I want you to be comfortable.”

“I’m fine like this,” Niall shrugs and moves his arms so his hands are behind his head and Liam nods. He doesn’t want to get straight to it, so he leans over to kiss him sweet and slow, his hands going up and down the sides of his body.

“You can just go for it, you know?” Niall speaks against his lips and chuckles.

“I’m trying to be romantic,” Liam says and chuckles too.

“You and your romanticism,” Niall shook his head fondly and Liam thinks is weird they are talking this much or laughing but it was okay, he was comfortable and nothing about Niall’s body language indicated he wasn’t. If anything, he just seemed super relaxed.

By the time Liam was pressing his first finger inside the other boy, he was met with almost no resistance, which helped him relax about it. He took his time moving it in and out for a while before he pressed a second one, this time meeting a bit more resistance. He made sure to check Niall’s face but he still had a relaxed face and no indications of discomfort. He kept going, making sure to scissor his fingers (just how he had read he needed to do because of course he had made some research before doing this, he wasn’t risking hurting Niall or something embarrassing happening). He kept looking for that spot he knew it’d have Niall feeling good but didn’t actually manage to find it until he had pressed a third finger in, that one had made Niall scrunch up his nose and Liam had stopped immediately, leaning to press a kiss to his hipbone, but the reaction he got out of Niall was as good as it could get, his back arching and a low moan escaping his lips. Still, Liam wanted to be sure Niall was okay and that he hadn’t hurt him.

“I’m fine,” Niall had reassured him with a small smile before he even asked and he smiled in return, going back to what he was doing.

“Alright,” Liam stopped after a moment when he thought Niall was prepared enough. But of course that wasn’t enough, so he had to ask. “Okay, yeah?”

“Yeah, just-“ Niall moved and grabbed a pillow, “let me change positions” he explained, laying now on his front and placing the pillow under his hips, making his back arch. “You okay like this?” he asked Liam.

“Yeah, are you?” Liam ask dumbly and Niall laughed.

“Wouldn’t put myself in a position if I wasn’t comfortable in, would I?”

“Right,” Liam nodded and placed himself in between Niall’s legs, “you have such a nice body,” he whispered, running hands from the small of his back up to his shoulders.

“Look who’s talking,” Niall chuckled and Liam leaned over to kiss his lips, Niall having to turn his head almost all the way around. Liam kept up the kiss for a moment longer, telling himself that it was to get Niall relaxed but knowing it was him who was nervous about the whole ordeal. “Okay,” Niall pulled away from the kiss and smiled, “come on,” he said, folding his hands under his face, “you can’t kill a boner with a kiss, Li,” he chuckled.

Liam rolled his eyes fondly and tried to suppress his laugh but failed, so he pecked his lips one last time before he grabbed the condom and the lube. He hissed at the contact when he rolled the condom on himself, already feeling it pulse in his hand just at the thought and the sight of Niall in front of him. He made sure to apply enough lube, and maybe he even used too much, but he’d rather be careful than hurting his boyfriend.

“Ready?”

“Yep,” Niall wiggled his arse, “I’d say you’re more nervous than I am,” he chuckled.

“Wel… yeah, probably.”

“It’s all good, Li, I promise you won’t hurt me, okay?”

“Okay,” Liam sighed to himself, then wrapped his hand around himself, and lining himself in place. The first push already had Liam’s head dizzy from the tightness and it’s been so long since he had been this intimate with someone he loved. He went slow and stopped when he heard Niall hissing, putting a hand on the small of his back and stroking slightly. He leaned over and placed soft kisses on his back and shoulders to try and get him to relax until Niall gave him an okay to keep going.

It took Liam a while, and he stopped one more time even though Niall had told him not to, but by the time Liam had his hips pressed against Niall, his breathing was already heavy, trying to keep himself in place. He was holding himself with his two hands on each side of Niall’s head and the blonde wrapped one of his hands around Liam’s wrists.

“Gimme a mo’, okay?” Niall said softly, eyes closed with a slight frown on his face that Liam could only describe as cute even given the circumstances and the reason of the frown. So he flexed his arms and managed to lower his body without falling with his whole weight on top of Niall.

“’course,” he mumbled against his skin as he proceeded to leave kisses down the back of his neck and back, “love you,” he whispered and felt Niall’s hand squeezing his wrist slightly.

“Love you too,” Niall sighed and smiled, “you can move.”

 “You sure? I can-“

“I’m fine, Li.”

“Okay,” Liam took Niall’s hand and raised it so he could kiss it before he let go and supported his body with both of his hands again. He moved his hips just the slightest bit back and then forward and had to let out a long, heavy breath through his nose. He repeated the movement, slowly, mostly just to make sure Niall was doing fine. And maybe he was worrying too much, but he couldn’t help it, he wanted this to be perfect for the both of them, even as cheesy as it sounded.

He took his time to make shallow thrusts so he could give Niall time to adjust, making sure to kiss every inch of his body he could reach in the position he was in. He started to pick up a pace moments later, when he felt Niall was more relaxed, but something was still off, he needed to find that spot that’d have Niall writhing and moaning under him, and he knew this was a new experience for him, but he was settled on this. He had changed his position a little a couple of times, not succeeding and he was starting to feel frustrated. It still felt damn good for him, but Niall’s pleasure was his first priority then.

“Liam, what are you- why are you moving s- so much?” Niall asked and turned to him.

“I’m- trying to- find your sp-“ Liam started as he grabbed the blonde’s hips, moving him backwards so his back was arched more when Niall interrupted him with a groan.

“Oh _God_ ,” he closed his eyes, “you f- found it.”

Liam couldn’t help the smug smirk on his face, “good,” he said breathless.

 He kept up his pace for a long while, his arms were almost burning from supporting his body but he kept going, he couldn’t stop, he didn’t want to stop. The little sounds and the moans that left Niall’s lips were like fuel for him.

After a while though, he decided it was time to change positions, so he slowly slid out of Niall, and the blonde turned to look at him confused.

“What-“

“Can you turn around? I mean, if you’re okay with it,” he asked, his chest raising and falling fast.

“Yeah… yeah, okay,” Niall nodded, turning around and getting rid of the pillow. He spread his legs and Liam placed himself between them, and he leaned over to kiss Niall sweetly.

“It’s been too long already since we’ve kissed,” he spoke against the blonde’s lips and he chuckled.

“Less talking, more doing,” Niall winked at him and put his hand on the back of Liam’s neck, pushing his head down to kiss him.

Liam took advantage of their new position and wrapped his arm around Niall’s waist as he used his other hand to guide himself inside him again. The blonde gasped against his lips but didn’t pull away from the kiss. Liam’s thrusts started slow but deep, the arm around the other’s body making his back arch so their bodies were completely touching, giving Niall the much needed friction he wanted.

“God, I love you s- so much,” Liam mumbled, keeping a steady pace as he started kissing down the blonde’s neck, nibbling when he reached his collarbones.

“Mm, bit faster,” Niall mumbled, eyes closed and head thrown back, giving Liam more space to kiss and mark. Liam sped up his thrusts a bit, not letting go of his waist and now wrapping his other hand around Niall’s cock, starting to jerk off in time with his thrusts, making him cry out. “So g- good, you’re so good t- to me,” he moaned and Liam placed a soft kiss on his neck under his ear.

“Love you so much,” Liam repeated, this time thrusting faster, feeling himself getting close to release and wanting it so much, chasing it. He could tell Niall was close too by the way he was clenching around him, making him go insane and groaning next to his ear.

“Me too,” Niall said breathlessly, moving his hand to Liam’s neck again and pushed his face closer to kiss him messily.

“Gonna cum,” Liam spoke in between the kiss and involuntarily tightened his arm around Niall.

“Fuck,” Niall gasped, “me too, j- just-“ and Liam knew exactly what. He moved his hand around his dick faster, and gave one last, deep thrust as he came inside the condom. He didn’t stop moving but his thrusts had become irregular, and seconds later, he felt Niall coming too, clenching around him and making a mess between them and on his hand. The look on his face was something Liam never wanted to get off his mind, eyes shut and lips parted in a silent moan. The kiss had been long stopped, now they were just breathing into each other’s mouth.

They didn’t say anything for a while, and they didn’t move either, they just stayed there, wrapped in their position trying to catch their breaths.

“Wow,” Liam let out a heavy breath, “that was amazing.”

“Yeah… yeah, it was,” Niall smiled sweetly, opening his eyes and blinking a couple of times.

“I know it’s super cliché to say it after sex, but I love you,” Liam spoke, his breath now back to normal, “I really do.”

“Thank God nothing about our relationship is cliché,” Niall chuckled slightly, “I love you too. A lot.”

Liam smiled, hiding his face in the crook of Niall’s neck and the blond ran a hand through his hair. Liam unwrapped his arm around his waist, instead using both his hands to grab the other’s hips and pulled out. Niall let out a small hiss but Liam knew he was okay.

“We’re doing this again before the weekend is over,” Niall spoke as Liam moved to grab tissues to clean them both and get rid of the condom, “just thought I should let you know.”

“Wouldn’t say no to such an offer,” Liam chuckled as he cleaned them.

“Can we take a nap?” Niall asked once Liam was done and he turned to lay on his side, not even bothering to put anything on.

“But what about our afternoon date?” Liam pouted.

“We can have a dinner date,” Niall cuddled to the pillow, “I’m knackered now.”

“But-“

“Pleaaase?” Niall batted his lashes at him.

“Fine,” Liam gave up, “but only because it’s very hard to say no to you.”

Niall chuckled, “good to know. Very important information for the future.”

“Shut up,” Liam laughed and got on the bed, throwing a blanket over them, sighing at how comfortable he was.

“Told you a nap was a good idea,” Niall chuckled, moving closer to kiss his cheek.

Liam smiled but didn’t say anything and they stayed silent for a while.

“I miss Tyler,” Liam spoke softly, breaking the comfortable silence, “I don’t think I’ve ever been this long away from him.”

Niall cooed at Liam and grabbed his hand and pressed a kiss on his knuckles and smiled, “you deserve some time for yourself too.”

“I know. I know,” Liam sighed, “it’s just that- everything I do, I do it for him. He’s the reason I wake up every morning to do stuff. For him. And I don’t know, it’s weird not having him around this long, I miss him singing along to songs on the telly I hate or yelling ‘da! da!’ all the time,” he shrugged.

“Wanna call him?” Niall asked, moving closer to Liam and wrapping an arm around his middle.

“Nah, we talk to him not long ago, don’t wanna seem clingy.”

“But you _are_ clingy,” Niall laughed.

“Shut up,” Liam chuckled, “go to sleep.”

“Hey! I was trying to be nice, don’t get bossy.”

“’m sorry,” he kissed the blonde’s cheek, “let’s get some sleep, yeah?” Niall hummed contently and cuddled closer and they shared a few short kisses before sleep took over them.

 

Liam was the first to wake up from their nap. Niall was still sound asleep next to him, his hair rustled and his face glued to the pillow, cheeks slightly pink. He felt a sudden rush of fondness and happiness run through him at the sight. Liam was so lucky to have found Niall.

He stared for a bit and ran a hand through the blonde’s hair softly, making him sigh in his sleep. He smiled, placing a soft kiss on his cheek before slowly unwrapping his body from Niall’s so he wouldn’t wake him. He shuddered at the sudden cold he felt when the covers left his body but he didn’t bother to put anything on except for a pair of boxers.

He closed the door of the room silently and went into his kitchen, starting on the coffee machine. He was really craving some cake, but didn’t have the ingredients to make one nor was he going out to buy them. He did have some cookie dough mix in his kitchen, so he figured that’d have to be enough. So he started the oven and prepared the mix with the instructions in the box. He knew he had bought that to prepare with Tyler, the little boy loved making cookies (and making a mess of the kitchen too) but he could always buy some more. He was craving something sweet.

Moments later when the cookies were already in the over, he turned on his little radio that he kept on the kitchen, that he barely even listened to by the way, and put some music as a background while he cleaned everything he used to make the cookies. It was when he finished washing and was drying in hands while singing along to the radio and kind of dancing on his spot that a pair of arms wrapped around his waist from behind and he gave a little jump in surprise.

“Sorry,” Niall’s deep, sleepy voice came from behind him as he rested his chin on Liam’s shoulder. “Smells great in here, what are you making?” he spoke softly as he nuzzled his head on his shoulder.

“Cookies. Didn’t really do much, just mixed what comes in the box,” he chuckled.

“Cookies sound good,” he smiled, and placed a kiss on Liam’s shoulder before letting go.

“Are you okay?” Liam turned to look at him with a small frown.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good,” Niall smiled and rubbed one of his eyes, “just still sleepy.”

“You can have some coffee if you want. Or you can go back to bed,” Liam smiled, pulling the blonde close and kissing him sweetly, “I’ll look for a tray and carry coffee and cookies to bed.”

“You sure? Don’t want me to help you with anything?”

“I’ve got everything under control, don’t worry,” Liam smiled, pecking his lips again before letting him go.

“Okay,” Niall nodded with a smile before he exited the kitchen.

Liam kept singing along to the radio while he waited for the cookies to be done. He stood by the window for a while looking outside and the rain hadn’t stopped one bit, guess they were going to have an indoors dinner date. He sighed.

When the cookies were ready, he waited for them to cool off a bit before putting them on a tray along with too mugs of coffee. He walked into their room to find Niall wrapped in the blankets, hair all messy and eyes closed. He was seriously so lucky.

“’m not asleep,” Niall’s voice was soft.

“But almost,” Liam chuckled.

“You know I can’t resist cookies.”

“I thought you couldn’t resist me,” Liam laughed as he sat on the bed, Niall moving to a sitting position too.

“That too,” Niall smiled and leaned over to kiss him.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to go out tonight, rain’s still as heavy as before,” Liam spoke as he sipped on his coffee.

“Well, this pretty much counts as a date. This whole weekend,” Niall chuckled as he munched on a piece of cookie.

“Still wanted to go and do something nice.”

“This is nice. You made cookies. What can be more romantic than having your boyfriend cooking for you and eating in bed? This is my ideal date.”

“This isn’t even a proper meal I cooked!” Liam laughed.

“Shut up,” Niall laughed along, “I love everything with you, we don’t have to go anywhere.”

“A date in bed it is then,” Liam chuckled over his coffee.

“That sounds very suggestive,” Niall raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe it was…” Liam wiggled his eyebrows and laugh, kissing Niall and laughing against his lips.

“I like the way you think, sir,” Niall mumbled and laughed.

“I love you,” Liam mumbled back and kissed him deeper, turning to face him and almost knocking the tray, “oops,” he laughed.

“I think we should wait until we’re done with our food,” Niall chuckled.

 

As much as Liam wanted _the whole_ weekend to be about just Niall and him, the housework couldn’t wait. He had laundry to do, clothes to fold, Tyler’s room to tidy because there were things lying around since he left and he hadn’t bothered with organizing it yet.

So they found themselves doing laundry, folding clothes together while they sang along to some song that was playing on the TV on the background and laughing and then putting toys away in Tyler’s room. It was so domestic but it felt so nice, Liam smiled to himself internally, Niall just kept showing him that he was a keeper.

When it was approaching dinner time, Liam was torn before cooking something or just ordering food, but he did check his kitchen to see what he had. He knew he had food to cook whatever he wanted, the thing was, what did he want to cook? What did he want to eat? What did Niall want? An idea crossed his mind.

“I’m gonna cook something gourmet for you for dinner,” Liam smiled as he scanned his cupboard.

“You don’t have to, Li, it’s fin-“

“No, really. I never get to eat anything nice because Tyler won’t like it, so please just let me cook something nice for us?” Liam pouted and looked at him with big eyes.

“Alright,” Niall sighed, “only because you’re looking at me like that and I can’t say no to that.”

“Thank you,” Liam beamed and walked over, placing a big, noisy kiss on Niall’s lips.

Liam had actually kicked Niall out of the kitchen so he could cook. The blonde offered him to help but Liam just shook his head and smiled, said it’d be a surprise. So Niall left the kitchen to watch some football match on the TV but not before a make out session that had Liam’s head a bit dizzy and had to stop himself for a second before he could actually start doing something. Niall just smirked smug before he left to the living room.

The blonde couldn’t really see what Liam was making from where he was sitting, he just heard him humming aloud and heard the noises of him frying stuff and moving around. He was distracted watching the TV when Liam appeared on the door of the kitchen to the living room.

“You like spicy stuff, yeah?”

Niall turned to him and blinked, “well yeah, you’re super hot so-“

“Shut up,” Liam snorted and rolled his eyes fondly, “I’m talking about _food,_ Niall.”

“I know,” Niall chuckled, “yeah, just- not too much, don’t want my insides to set on fire.”

“Alright,” Liam nodded then went back into the kitchen.

The game had just finished when Liam came into the living room with two plates of food and settled them on the small coffee table.

“You did this?!” Niall asked surprised as he watched the plates, “fuck, you weren’t kidding about it being gourmet.”

“It’s not that much though, it’s just the presentation.”

“Well, it looks amazing.”

“I hope it tastes amazing too,” Liam smiled.

“Since when can you cook- I need to take a picture of it, lemme just-“ Niall looked around for his phone until he found it and snapped a picture of their plates. “Let’s try it then,” he rubbed his hands together and took his fork then stopped, “uh- how do I eat this?” he chuckled.

“You cut it?” Liam laughed.

“Won’t it like- won’t the stuffing fall out?”

“No, it’s okay,” Liam shook his head.

Liam had made pasta shells with some seasoned meat with spicy sauce and cheese as a stuffing. Then put some more cheese (and a different one) over it and let it gratin on the oven for a bit. He did a good job, he felt proud of it.

“Oh my God- Liam, this is so- _so good_ ,” Niall moaned and Liam chuckled. “I am serious. Why did you never cook for me before?”

Liam shrugged, “never had the chance I guess, can’t make this for Ty, he wouldn’t eat it, you know how kids are.”

“I know. But God, I’m gonna need you to feed me every day if I get to eat like this,” he laughed.

“Thank you,” Liam smiled shy but proud of the same time.

“You’re welcome,” Niall smiled, and turned, placing a kiss on Liam’s shoulder.

They ate in silence for a bit, clearly enjoying their food. Liam was actually happy with the result and it’s been so long since he had something like this, most of the time he had to eat vegetables and all that just to set the example for Tyler and then had to struggle with him to get him to eat them.

“Are we calling Tyler before he goes to bed?” Niall was the one to ask.

“Who’s clingy now?” Liam laughed, “of course. I’ll call him when we finish eating.”

Niall nodded and they continued with dinner, this time chatting about random stuff on the TV, mostly about the commercials. When they were done, Liam took their plates and let them in the sink in the kitchen and then came back with his phone already in his hand. He spoke a bit to his mum first who told him about what they’ve been up to that day and that Tyler has behaved wonderfully. After that, Liam put the phone on speaker to talk to his son.

“Hiya, da!” Tyler exclaimed happily.

“Hello, bean,” Liam laughed at his child enthusiasm.

“Ni there too?”

“I am!” Niall spoke, “how are you, boo?”

“Good! Granny make cookies today!”

“We made cookies too,” Niall told him, “well, your dad did,” he laughed.

“Why no cookies when I home, da?” Liam could almost see the pout on Tyler’s face.

“I make cookies when you’re here too!” Liam faked indignation. “Did you have dinner too?”

“Yes. Granny made mashed potatoes!”

“That’s great,” Niall laughed at how enthusiastic the kid sounded at everything.

“What da and Ni eat dinner?”

“Something you wouldn’t probably like,” Liam chuckled.

“Veggies? Yuck!”

Niall had to burst out laughing at that and Liam looked at him fondly but rolled his eyes at Tyler’s comment, “no, not vegetables, but still. Maybe you’ll like it when you’re older.”

“But I big now, da!” Tyler whined and they laughed.

“How’s your grandpa?”

“Good, we ride bikes today, it was fun!”

“I’m glad you’re having fun, bean. What are you gonna do now? You’re gonna watch the telly before bed?”

“Don’t know,” Tyler replied and then they could hear him talking to Liam’s mum, “can we watch telly, granny?” they heard his mum answering him before Tyler’s voice was back, “we watch telly before bed, yes. Da and Ni watch too?”

“We’ll probably watch some movie, yeah.”

“Watch Kuzco!” Tyler was quick to suggest.

“Kuzco?” Niall turned to look at Liam with confusion on his face.

“The Emperor’s New Groove,” Liam explained, “Tyler loves it, don’t you, bean?”

“Yes. Kuzco is funny,” he giggled.

“I haven’t watched that, maybe we should.”

“Yes, Ni. Tell da to watch Kuzco.”

“I will, Ty,” Niall laugh.

“Alright, we’re gonna leave you and your grandma to go watch the telly, yeah? We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“’kay, da.”

“Don’t forget to brush your teeth and do everything your grandma says, okay?”

“Yes, da. Miss you and Ni.”

“We miss you too,” Niall answered, “but we’ll see each other again tomorrow, remember?”

“Yeah. But miss still.”

“Aw, we miss you too, bean. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah? Be good.”

“’kay. Bye, da. Bye, Ni!”

“Bye bye, boo!”

“Bye, Ty, love you!”

After the call ended, there was a minute of silence before they were back to reality.

“So, movie?” Liam asked.

“Sure,” Niall nodded and Liam stood up to watch at his DVD’s. “Can we… can we watch that one Tyler said?” he sounded almost embarrassed as he asked and Liam turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

“The Emperor’s New Groove?”

“Yeah…”

“Are you serious?”

“I- it’s okay, I’ll watch it with Tyler sometime.”

Liam stared at him for a moment, then blinked and sighed, “we can watch it.”

“Thanks,” Niall beamed at him as Liam put the movie on.

 

Liam had lost count of how many times Niall had burst out laughing during this movie. He didn’t even think it was _that_ funny. Or maybe he watched it too many times already.

They had changed positions a few times during the movie, but by the end of it Liam was lying on the couch, his head on the armrest and Niall in between his legs, his head under Liam’s chin. Liam’s arms were wrapped around his waist, his hands under his shirt and his fingers running circles mindlessly over the skin.

“I can see why Tyler loves this movie, it’s seriously great,” Niall chuckled as the credits started rolling.

“It’s not _that_ funny, c’mon!”

“It is! You’re boring, Liam,” Niall turned to look up at him.

“I’m not!” Liam exclaimed and laughed, then tickled Niall’s stomach with his hands.

“N- no!” the blonde tried to get away from him but couldn’t. “Li-am, stoooop!” he laughed and complained at the same time.

“Can’t believe you’re ticklish there, you’re so weird,” Liam chuckled and stopped, pressing a kiss to Niall’s cheek.

“Shut up, I hate you,” Niall said slightly breathless from his laugh.

“No, you don’t,” Liam was back at caressing his skin.

“That’s much better,” Niall smiled up at him and pressed a kiss to Liam’s lips, slowly deepening it.

Liam didn’t stop the movement of his hands but the kiss was over a moment later because of the weird angle.

“How about a round before bed, hm?” Niall asked, voice soft but deep at the same time as he watched Liam.

“Yeah… yeah, okay,” Liam nodded, “you okay for that though?” he asked.

“’course I am, wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t,” Niall laughed.

“Silly me,” Liam rolled his eyes fondly, “another round it is then,” he smirked before he dived in for another kiss.

*

Liam woke up the next morning because his phone wouldn’t stop going off. He tried to move but couldn’t, and a groan came from above him. He frowned and blinked his eyes open only to find that Niall was half lying on top of him. He sighed, stretching the arm that wasn’t around Niall and feeling around his bedside table until he found his phone. It was his mum. He groaned before he decided to answer.

“’ello?” he sounded almost asleep already.

“Da sleepy?” Tyler’s voice came from the other end. Liam closed his eyes and smiled at the tiny voice.

“Yeah, I was still asleep, bean, sorry,” he apologized and felt Niall shifting a bit, “why are you calling?”

“Granny buy Spiderman hot wheel for me!” Tyler exclaimed happily, “and Spiderman pajamas too!”

Liam couldn’t help but laugh at his son, he was so excited because of such a simple reason, and that was actually his favorite thing about him.

“What’s happening?” Niall asked groggily, opening his eyes slowly.

“Ty’s on the phone,” Liam explained to him and Niall blinked in confusion, mostly because he was still almost asleep.

“Put him on speaker,” Niall said and rubbed his eye. Liam nodded, pressing his finger to the screen of his phone to put it on speaker. “Hi, Ty,” Niall greeted the kid.

“Ni sleepy too?”

“Yeah, I was asleep. How’re you doing?”

“Good! Granny buy Spiderman hot wheel and Spiderman pajamas for me!” Tyler repeated and Niall laughed.

“That’s awesome, boo. Your dad and I need to buy some to match you,” he said and Liam snorted.

“But you adults! Can’t wear superheroes pajamas!” Tyler giggled.

“No? We’ll see about that,” Niall responded and cuddled to Liam, resting his head on his shoulder.

“Silly Ni,” Tyler giggled again. “Did Ni watch Kuzco?”

“Yes! I watched it last night, Ty, I loved it. We need to watch it together,” Niall answered him happily.

“I can’t believe this,” Liam shook his head with a sigh and a fond roll of his eyes.

“We watch Kuzco together, yes!”

“What about me?” Liam pouted.

“Da too, of course. No leave da out, love da!”

“Love you too, bean. What are you doing today?”

“Don’t know. Grandpa and I go ride bike again I think.”

“That sounds great, Ty. Have a lot of fun with them. Then you have to come back home us and we’re boring.”

“No boring. Da and Ni no boring!” Tyler said, “love da and Ni and movies and when we go park.”

“We love that too,” Liam said, “but Ni and I want to go back to sleep. Can we call you later?”

“’kay, da. Sleep nice,” Tyler said softly.

They said their goodbyes and Liam sighed before he made himself comfortable next to Niall again.

“What time is it?” the blonde asked.

“Almost noon.”

“And we’re gonna keep sleeping?”

“Well I wouldn’t say no to stay in bed with you.”

“Me neither. But I’m gonna be hungry soon so I better start breakfast.”

“Noooo,” Liam whined, “stay.”

After a very lazy wrestle on the bed about Liam wanting Niall to stay, he had to let him go because he was right, he was starting to feel hungry too and the idea of breakfast sounded very appealing.

“It’s not raining anymore,” Liam said as he watched outside the window of the living room. “Fancy a picnic today?”

“That’d be nice, yeah,” Niall nodded as he poured some coffee in their mugs, “are you gonna cook something nice for me?” he beamed.

“Well, picnics don’t really include elaborated meals but I mean- if you want?”

“I was kidding, whatever food there is it’ll be fine,” he chuckled.

“Should we go for like- lunch? Or after?”

“Um… I don’t know. And parks will probably be all muddy from the rain.”

“Ugh, you’re right. I wanted to go on a picnic,” he pouted.

“Sorry, Li,” he smiled apologetically, “maybe some other time, yeah? We’ll leave Tyler with one of your friends and we’ll go on a nice date, like the old times.”

“Okay,” Liam nodded. “What should we do today then?” Liam asked as he munched on a piece of toast.

“Stay in, have a quiet day, enjoy each other’s company. Tyler will be back later today anyway.”

“I like that. Can we spend it in bed?”

“Is that a suggestion?” Niall raised an eyebrow.

“It wasn’t,” Liam laughed, “but I wouldn’t say no to that.”

“I’m- we’ll have to wait a bit ‘cause I’m a bit sore, like- from yesterday and-“

“I’m sorry,” Liam interrupted him. What a nice chat to have over breakfast, wasn’t it? “Did I hurt you-“

“No,” Niall smiled, “no, of course not. ‘s kinda inevitable though. There’s still other stuff we can do?” he wiggled his eyebrows.

“Okay,” Liam laughed, “I’m holding you to that.”

After their breakfast was done, Liam took care of their dishes, because the plates from the dinner last night where still there and he wasn’t letting them pile up. Meanwhile Niall stayed in the kitchen with him and turned on the radio, singing quietly to some songs.

“Oh my God, I love this song!” Niall suddenly exclaimed and turned up the volume and started singing out loud and dancing around the kitchen. Liam laughed at him but was quick to join when he finished washing. They didn’t stop when the song was over though, they kept singing even if they didn’t know the words to the song that was playing, making up words that’d fit and dancing around and laughing.

“Well, that was fun,” Liam laughed slightly out of breath.

“Yeah. It was good,” Niall smiled.

 

Later that day, when they had spent already too many hours in bed making out until the point that their lips hurt and Liam had given his first blowjob ever to Niall (that was of course reciprocated later), they were cuddling in comfortable silence, the TV as background noise.

“I really liked this weekend, it was very nice,” Liam spoke softly and placed a kiss on Niall’s shoulder.

“Me too. I wish we could do this more often.”

“We could find a way to do it. And I mean- not because of the sex, even though that was very nice,” he chuckled, “but I don’t know, feels like I can be me- like, not dad Liam, just Liam. And that feels very nice from time to time.”

“I like dad Liam though,” Niall laughed, “he’s very cute and very hot at the same time if I’m honest.”

“Well, I mean, you have your parent mode too…”

“I do?” Niall turned to look at him with a surprised face.

“Yeah. You just haven’t noticed but I see it when I’m looking at you and Tyler from the outside. I’m really glad you do, you’re very good help.”

“I’m glad I’m helpful,” Niall laughed.

“No- not like that. I mean like- really. It feels very nice to have someone to help you with this. It’s not easy for me, and I know it’s not for you either, but I think we’re doing good together.”

“I’m- I’ve never seen it like that. But I’m happy you feel that way. I’m happy that you let me be the one to help you with this, which is the most important thing you’ll probably do in your life.”

“You know, I feel incredibly lucky I found you. Like, _so_ lucky. You’re the best that’s happened to me in a long time, Ni, and I mean it.”

The blonde turned around on Liam’s arms so he was facing him and kissed him slow and sweetly. “That’s really nice to hear. That you’re appreciated. I feel the same about you. I really, really love you and everything that comes with you. I’m learning so much stuff from being with you, like, how to be responsible and how to take care of stuff. Kind of like teaching me to be a real adult,” he chuckled. “I love you very much, Li. You and Tyler, I love you both.”

“You’re making me want to cry, stop it,” Liam chuckled.

“But why? I didn’t say anything!” Niall laughed.

“I don’t know, I feel kind of overwhelmed.”

“By love?”

“Yeah… it sounds stupid.”

“If that’s how you’re feeling then it’s a valid emotion. I like that I’m overwhelming you with love. I want to do that for a long time.”

“You can be such a sap,” Liam laughed, “but me too.”

“Who’s being a sap now?” Niall laughed happily and kissed him, smiling against his lips.

They went back to being silent, sharing smiles and little kisses for a while.

“We should go shower,” Liam sighed, “Tyler’s gonna be back soon.”

“Yeah… don’t wanna move though, it’s so comfy here.”

“You tell me,” Liam shook his head, “and we should probably change the sheets too,” he chuckled and Niall laughed along.

*

It was barely starting to get dark outside when the bell rang and Niall opened the door to Liam’s mother and a very excited Tyler.

“Ni!” the kid jumped at him and hugged him. Niall laughed at his enthusiasm but hugged him back anyway.

“Hello, boo! I’ve missed you, have you missed me?”

“Lots,” Tyler nodded quickly, “where da?”

“He’s just finishing in the shower, he’ll be out in a moment. Why don’t you come and tell me about your weekend with your grandparents, hm? You surely had so much fun!”

“Very fun, yes!” Tyler exclaimed as he walked inside the house and sat in the sofa. This gave Niall time to properly greet Liam’s mother, who was as happy to see him as Tyler.

Niall sat on the living room with them and heard attentively to all the stories about the weekend that Tyler had to tell him. He laughed at all the funny stories and congratulated him when Karen had told him he had behaved very well and brushed his teeth like his dad had told him to do every night.

“Da!” Tyler exclaimed and stood up quickly from the sofa to go hug his dad as soon as Liam entered the living room, a wet towel still in his hand.

“Hello, bean!” Liam was quick to put him up and spun him around. “Did you get here long ago?”

“No, just a bit,” Tyler shook his head as Liam put him down. “I telling Ni about weekend with grandma and grandpa.”

“Did you have fun?”

“Lots,” he nodded quickly, “but next time Ni and da come too, yes?”

Liam threw Niall and his mother a quick look before he nodded at Tyler, “of course, bean.”

“Yes!” he squealed in happened and hugged Liam, “double fun!”

After that Tyler had showed them his new Spiderman pajamas and the new Spiderman hot wheels his grandma had bought for him. He asked them if they could buy him the rest of them because he needed the whole collection. And that the Hulk one was cool because it was a nice green. Liam had just laughed and told him they’ll see, if he behaved then they’ll get the toys for them.

Liam’s mum left a while after when Tyler was already watching his cartoons and singing along. Liam sighed as he closed the door after his mother and turned to Niall who was standing next to him. “Back to the routine,” he smiled.

“Back to the routine it is,” Niall smiled, putting his arms around Liam’s middle and kissing his cheek. There was no other place he’d rather be than with his little family. That’s how he called them up in his head (because that’s what they were).

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only one chapter to go!  
> (also, I love the emperor's new groove, I had to fit it in somewhere lol)


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this story comes to an end. I planned it so long ago and was so happy to write I can't believe I'm letting it go omg. This chapter is much shorter than the previous ones but it's an epilogue. This happens about a year after the last chapter posted. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this last bit and I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did. (:

There’s something that’s been going around Liam’s mind for a while now. Something he wanted to do but he needed to think it through. And it’s been a while since he’s been thinking about it, actually, he might have thought too much time. But not being the only one leaving in the house, there was someone he needed to discuss his decision with.

“Hey, Ty?” Liam asked him as he approached him with a bowl of cereal and sat next to him on the sofa. Tyler barely took his eyes off the TV to look at him as he grabbed the bowl.

“Thanks, da,” he smiled as went back to his cartoons.

“Listen…” Liam started, not really knowing how to ask this to his own son, “I need to talk to you about something important,” he spoke,  pressing the mute button for the TV and Tyler turned to look at him expectantly, “well… more like, I need to ask you something. And I need you to answer honestly.”

“’kay, da,” the kid gave a short nod.

“What would you say… what would you say if I told you Niall was moving here?”

Tyler blinked before he spoke, not seeming fazed but Liam’s question, “Ni is moving here?”

“Well… I haven’t asked him yet. I wanted to know if you’ll be okay with it.”

“Yes,” Tyler nodded, “love to have Ni here,” he smiled big, “he makes me happy. He makes da happy too.”

“That he does,” Liam let out a laugh. “So you’d be okay if I asked him?”

“Yes!” Tyler cheered, “when you ask him?”

“I don’t know yet. But it has to be a surprise so you can’t say anything to him, okay?”

“’kay, da,” Tyler nodded with his eyes wide, “a secret.”

“Good,” Liam smiled, “you can keep watching your cartoons now.”

*

Last year Liam had asked Niall to come over to his family’s house to spend Christmas but Niall had to turn down his invitation because well, he was going home to see his family. Liam didn’t complain, he knew Niall missed his family and home so he let him go happily. Of course they talked over the phone every day anyway. This year though, they had managed to convince Niall’s family to come to England for a big Christmas, and a big family meeting too. It was quite nerve wrecking but they figured both families would get along just fine.

Liam’s parents house back in Wolverhampton was big enough for them to stay, maybe they’d been a bit cramped but it’d only be for a couple of days anyway. Niall’s family said that they wouldn’t like to irrupt there so they rented rooms at a nice family hotel to stay.

Coming Christmas, Tyler’s favorite time of the year (like any other kid, really, and besides from his birthday, of course), the car ride back to Liam’s family house was hell. Tyler was literally bouncing around in the back seat and he would sing really loud to songs that annoyed Liam a bit too much. Niall had asked him to stop the car and moved back to the back seat with Tyler to keep him quiet so Liam could drive more relaxed.

By the time they made it to Wolverhampton it was already past lunch time, and Liam’s parents were already working on dinner and dessert and having the house ready. Niall’s family would be over very soon.

The moment the bell rang Niall almost ran to the door and flew it open and jumped on his parents arms. His brother was there too, along with his wife and kid. Tyler was surprised and super happy that there was another kid, even though Niall’s nephew was younger than him.

Both Liam and Niall were a bit nervous watching the first interaction between their parents but everything went just fine and everyone clicked rapidly. All of them still had their suitcases, so Liam and Niall helped them get them into a room before they all went back to help with dinner and decorations.

Tyler was happily playing in the living room with Niall’s nephew, some cartoon on the TV long forgotten already. Liam watched them from the door to the kitchen with a small smile.

“What are you smiling at?” Niall stood next to him and rested his head on his shoulder.

“The kids. It’s just so refreshing to watch them interact, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” Niall nodded.

“I’m really glad we managed to have this big family Christmas,” Liam wrapped his arm around Niall’s waist.

“Me too. It was about time they all met.”

They stood in silence for a while, watching the kids play and laugh before they decided to go help the adults.

Dinner was amazing, both Liam and Niall spent it laughing and trying to get Tyler not to stain his clothes with food, same as Niall’s brother and his wife with his kid. Their parents laughed at them and Liam seemed confused at their laughing until his mother explained, “we’ve been there already, now it’s your turn”. Liam rolled his eyes at her and went back to helping Tyler cut his food.

Over dessert their parents were already exchanging embarrassing stories about the two of them and seriously, why were they doing that, it was supposed to be a nice family dinner!

After all the food was done and all the used plates and cutlery were back in the kitchen, Niall put a Christmas movie on the TV for the kids to watch and he cuddled Liam in the sofa as they watched too. He wasn’t sure how but the kids had managed to stay up until midnight for their Christmas toast (of course there wasn’t any alcohol in their cups, and of course they didn’t have a glass cup either, they weren’t risking any disasters).

Both kids had been asleep for a while when Niall’s family decided it was time to go to their hotel. Niall’s brother carried a sleepy Theo in his arms as they walked out of the house after their goodbyes, promising they will all be back by lunch the next day. Or more like, the same day.

“Okay, bedtime for you too, bean,” Liam whispered as he carried an asleep Tyler back to the room he’d be sleeping in. This time, and just this time he’d let him go to bed without brushing his teeth. He managed to change him into his pajamas with Niall’s help before lying him down and covering him with the blankets. “Love you, bean,” he smiled as he ruffled his sons hair and Niall leaned to kiss the kid’s forehead.

They walked back to Liam’s old room where they were sleeping, luckily for them, Liam had a double bed there. Not that they’d mind sharing a single bed, but being used to having more space, it was much more comfortable.

They were about to change into more comfortable clothes to get ready for bed when Liam spoke, “we need to put Tyler’s presents under the tree, I almost forgot!” he laughed.

“Right,” Niall chuckled, “me too.”

They looked into their suitcases for Tyler’s presents and quietly walked back into the living room, where they saw a bunch of presents already in there, not only for Tyler but for them too, and for their families, of course. They left the presents under the tree with the rest and made their way back to the room. Liam started wondering if it would be the right time to give Niall his present, one he didn’t want to put under the tree. He’d rather do it now that Tyler was asleep and they were alone than the next morning when everyone was up.

They changed into other clothes and were about to get into bed when Liam was again the one to speak, “hey, Ni?”

“Hm?” Niall turned to him as he sat on the bed.

“Is it okay if I give you your present now?”

“Can’t wait until tomorrow?” Niall chuckled.

“No,” Liam shook his head with a smile, “and I’d rather give it to you now that we’re alone.”

“Ooooh, okay,” Niall wiggled his eyebrows, “what is it?”

“Oh, shut up,” Liam laughed, “stop that dirty mind of yours.”

“Well, I mean, you started,” Niall laughed and shrugged.

Liam didn’t say anything for a moment, then stood up, “okay, um- I’ll give it to you now.”

Niall just watched him move around in the room, going to his bag to look for something. It was probably a minute that took Liam to find his present, but for Niall it seemed like ages. He was just super anxious to know what this was, given that Liam couldn’t wait until the next morning, he’d rather give it to him when they were alone and that he seemed kind of serious about the matter.

“So…” Liam sat back next to him on the edge of the bed and handed him a small package, “here.”

Niall watched him with a curious expression and took the small present, a small box with a little bow. He looked at it as if he’ll know what was inside if he just stared at it. Liam didn’t say anything to him though. At first he thought that maybe he’ll open the box and find a ring, but he knew this wouldn’t be the way Liam would do it. Not in Christmas or when they were at his parent’s house and in a non-romantic way without some long, cheesy speech. So not wanting to wait longer, he untied the bow that kept the box together and opened it.

 _‘Move in with us?’_ was the only thing written in Liam’s handwriting in a small piece of paper. Niall blinked, taking the paper in his hand and only then realizing something was under it. Keys.

“Oh my God,” Niall gasped with an overwhelmed face.

“A good ‘oh my God’ or a bad ‘oh my God’?” Liam asked nervous. Suddenly he felt like maybe it was too soon, they hadn’t been together for years like many people before they decided to live together but at the time this seemed like the best Christmas present. And not only for Niall.

“Good,” Niall laughed as if he couldn’t believe it, then leaned over and placed a kiss on Liam’s lips, “definitely good. Liam, I…” he started but couldn’t find words to explain what he was feeling.

“I know it’s not much, but-“

“Not much?” Niall looked up at him, “Liam, this is everything. This is… this is such a serious matter, such an important thing to do. There’s nothing more I’d want with you.”

“I…” Liam let out a breath, “okay.”

“Okay?” Niall chuckled, “that’s all you have to say?”

“I don’t know what to say…” Liam shrugged embarrassed.

“Thank you,” Niall smiled the most beautiful smile he’s ever seen, “this is seriously so important and it means so much to me, Li. I can’t wait to move in with you,” he said and hugged Liam tight.

“I can’t wait either,” Liam chuckled and hugged back.

“Does Tyler know of this?” Niall asked once he pulled away.

“Yeah, I asked him if he’d be okay with this. He was super excited, he said you make him happy.”

Niall couldn’t help but smile at Liam’s words and suddenly it all weighed down on him and his eyes got a bit watery.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked him, suddenly worried.

“More than okay,” the blonde sniffled, “it’s just- this seemed so improbably not long ago, so far away. And look at me now, settling down so young.”

“Do you not want to?” Liam asked, “you don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to or if you’re not ready.”

“No! No, of course I want to. I didn’t know how much I wanted this until now. I’m so ready, Liam, can’t wait.”

“I’m glad. You don’t know how happy this makes me. And how happy it’ll make Ty.”

“You two make me happy too. Thank you, Li,” Niall rested his head on Liam’s shoulder and intertwined their fingers. Liam rested his head on top of Niall’s then pressed a kiss to it.

“I think we should go to sleep now,” Liam moved away, “Tyler will wake us up super early for his presents.”

“Right,” Niall nodded, “I’ll just put this away and get in,” he explained, getting up with his new keys in hand to put them in his bag before going to bed.

Moments later they were both lying in bed, facing each other but eyes closed. Everything was quiet and Liam was about to drift off when Niall spoke, “you’re so gonna love your present,” he chuckled.

“Why does that sound like I totally won’t?” Liam shook his head, eyes still closed.

“Hey! I bought it especially for you, you better love it.”

“Oh my God…”

*

“You bought me Batman pajamas?” Liam asked with an amused face as he looked at the present Niall had bought for him.

“Don’t you love it?” Niall smirked.

“We match, da!” Tyler commented excitedly as he tried messily his new Batman pajamas.

“We do, bean,” Liam laughed as he shook his head in disbelief. “Now we’re gonna have to get you one too,” Liam commented and Niall winked at him, “you didn’t!” he exclaimed and Niall laughed, “oh my God, you did! Niall, you’re unbelievable!”

“What happening?” Tyler asked confused.

“I got Batman pajamas too,” Niall crouched to whisper to Tyler but loud enough for Liam to hear, “but don’t tell your dad.” Tyler cheered happily and Liam shook his head at them.

“Why don’t you open the rest of your presents, hm?” Liam told Tyler and the kid nodded quickly before grabbing another present from under the tree.

In the end, besides his Batman pajamas, Tyler got lots of new toys and movies to watch. Both Liam and him had gotten nice presents too, mostly clothes. But Niall’s favorite present was still in Liam’s old room, safe in his bag.

 

They had stayed until the day after New Year’s, and during that week Liam had taken Niall around his old town, they had watched films all together with hot chocolate and had snowball fights with the kids. It had been an amazing time and both of their families had gotten along so well that they were worried they wouldn’t want to go.

By the time they were back home, they still had to break the news that Niall would be moving in soon with them to Tyler, but Niall decided it’d be good to wait until they had it all planned. So Niall had to call the owner of his flat and ask if it’d be okay if he ended his contract at the end of the month, so this way he’d have the whole month to pack his things and give Liam enough time to organize his house ( _their_ house) for his things to fit in there.

“Hey, Ty?” Niall spoke over lunch one day, “I have something to tell you.”

“Yes?” Tyler cocked his head to the side and watched him attentively.

“I’m gonna be moving here next month, how do you feel about that?”

“Yes!” Tyler exclaimed, a happy expression on his face as he left his chair and climbed onto Niall’s lap, wrapping his arms around him. Liam was watching them with a smile on his face.

“I was worried you didn’t want me here,” Niall said with a pout.

“Silly Ni, you live here with da and I now!”

“Not yet, but soon,” Niall beamed and pressed a big kiss into the kids cheek, making him laugh.

 

The first month after Niall had moved into the house it was chaos. There were boxes around the house for the longest time and they couldn’t find a way to make everything fit in but with patience they managed to get everything in place.

Liam’s house looked different from what he was used to, it looked so full of stuff, so… alive. Not that it wasn’t before, it’s impossible not to when there’s a kid living there but now he had two rays of sunshine living with him which meant twice as much life. He wouldn’t change it for the world though.

~~~*~~~

It’s been about five months, give or take since Niall moved in. Classes had started again and both Tyler and Niall had gone back to it. Different roles, of course. Niall was teaching four year olds now and he was as happy as always with the group he had, they were all super nice and great kids. Tyler was in preschool already, he had grown a lot, started to read some simple things and he could even write his name now! He was more open now and had lots of friends that always invited him over to play.

It was a day in the middle of the week after Liam had got home after work and was comfortably watching the TV in the living room with Niall and Tyler was playing in his room that it happened.

“We need to talk,” Tyler walked into the room walking firmly and both of them turned to him confused. Liam moved to grab the remote and muted the TV.

“What’s up, Ty?”

“Um-“ the kid started and then frowned in concentration in a way the two adults could only describe as cute. “a girl in my class has two mummies,” he started.

“Really? That’s great, Ty,” Niall smiled. Liam wasn’t very sure where this was heading off.

“She says that- that they live in the same house. With her. And- and that they sleep in same bed,” he continued speaking, “and that one mummy wasn’t with them before. But she is now.”

“Okay…” Niall nodded his head for him to continue.

“And said that she didn’t live in her house before. But now she is,” Tyler was going around in circles but it was probably because it was hard for him to explain was he was trying to, so they let him keep talking. “She said new mummy makes her happy. And her other mummy too.”

Both Liam and Niall nodded, catching a glance of each other, and could see the look of confusion on the other’s face.

“That mean…” Tyler cocked his head to the side slightly, “Ni is my other dad too?”

There was a long moment of silence in which none of them said anything and Tyler just looked at them. “Hello?” he spoke when he noticed no one was saying anything.

“I, um-“ Niall started but was cut off by Liam.

“Yes.” It sounded firm and sure and Niall turned to look at him with wide eyes. “Yes, he is.”

“I, uh- Li, are you sure?” Niall whispered to him and Liam only nodded.

“You are, Ni. You’re as much as his dad to him as I am.”

“I… I-“ Niall couldn’t speak, he covered his mouth with his hand and his eyes got wet. It was too much, he felt so overwhelmed.

“No cry, Ni!” Tyler suddenly reacted when he noticed a single tear rolling down his face. He climbed into the sofa next to him and wiped the tear away with his small hand. “Why cry? No want to be my da?” Tyler asked with a sad expression.

“No!” Niall almost yelled, “I’d love to. I love you so much, boo, so much,” he wrapped his arms around the kid, “they are happy tears.”

“Happy tears?” Tyler asked confused. “Cry when sad, not happy!”

“Sometimes you cry when you’re happy too, Ty,” Liam explained with a soft voice as he ran his hand up and down Niall’s back.

“So Ni my da too?” Tyler asked again when they pulled away from the hug.

Niall nodded and sniffled, “yeah.”

“Good,” Tyler beamed at him and moved to sit on his lap. “Da,” he said with a smile and then frown, “no da, that confusing.”

Liam laughed at his child’s conclusion, “it’d be confusing for us too, we’ll never know who you’re talking too!”

“Dad,” Tyler tried again and scrunched up his nose in the exact same way Liam sometimes did, “serious.”

“Hey! I’m very serious!” Niall exclaimed and pouted, making Tyler laugh.

“No, serious,” he giggled. There was a second in which Tyler seemed to be in thought while they just looked at him waiting. “Daddy.” There was another moment of silence after it before Tyler spoke again. “Yes, that okay,” he smiled and cuddled into Niall’s body, resting his head on his shoulder.

Niall put his arm around Tyler and turned to look at Liam with such a soft face that Liam couldn’t do anything than leaned over and press a kiss to his lips.

“No! Ew, no kissy face, dads,” Tyler moved away and made a disgusted face.

“Sorry, boo,” Niall laughed, pulling Tyler close to his body.

Liam turned the volume of the TV up again and they kept watching. Well, Tyler wasn’t really paying attention but he stayed with them nevertheless. And it was actually him the one to speak again.

“Dads?”

“Yes?” Liam chuckled at how funny it sounded and how keen he was to refer to both of them as that.

“My teeth moving.”

“Your teeth is moving?” Liam sat straighter suddenly and looked at him, “but you’re only fine!”

“He’s gonna be six soon, Li, it’s not weird.”

“Oh my God, your teeth are starting to fall off already.”

“Another teeth grow?”

“Of course it does, silly bean,” Liam laughed and poked his tummy, “big kids teeth.”

“Yes!” Tyler put his fist in the air. Both boys laughed at the kid’s enthusiasm but really, when was Tyler not happy about anything? Good thing about kids is that they always see the good things in everything.

They went back to the TV and this time no one spoke again, they enjoyed the silence. At some point Tyler fell asleep on Niall, but the blonde didn’t bother to wake him, he just let him sleep on.

“Want me to take him to bed?” Liam whispered as he watched Tyler but Niall shook his head no.

“’s fine,” he smiled down at the kid and pressed a kiss on top of his head. He then turned to Liam and stretched his neck, slightly leaning over to kiss Liam, “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Liam smiled.

“And thank you.”

“What for?” Liam looked at him a bit confused.

“For this little family you made a part of,” Niall gave him the most sincere smile he ever saw.

“No, thank _you_ for accepting to be a part of it,” Liam’s smile could’ve put any star to shame before he leaned to press a sweet kiss against the blonde’s lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> funny thing about this story is that the first idea I had for it was what's written in this epilogue, ha. anyway, hope you liked it, let me know! (:

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is not very long and I'm sorry, I promise the next chapters will be longer. Plese let me know what you think! (:


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